Based in Arnhem, the Netherlands, Snow Coats have already played shows with Ratboys, Future Teens and Sea Girls and are now ready to share their second album, ‘If it wasn’t me, I would’ve called it funny’. Led by Anouk van der Kemp, the record documents her experiences in life with love, loss and trying to look after her mental health all central themes.
The album opens with the power pop melodies of ‘For a Moment’, although these potent sounds surround darker and more self-depreciating thoughts – ‘You were treading water but I’m drowning in it’; ‘The joke’s on me but I missed it’.. As the song progresses, Anouk tries her best to manage this anxiety: ‘You know it could have been worse… I tell myself repeatedly’. ‘Anyway’ continues in a similar vein with Anouk again trying to make sense of things and avoid getting overwhelmed by feelings: ‘Give me something real, something I can feel’. It appears to be about a very one-sided ‘relationship’ where you can go for weeks without seeing the ‘significant’ other – and how this selfishness does not even register on their scale: ‘You tell me I’m lucky. I don’t feel lucky at all’.
‘Dinosaur’ opens with a reference to Jurassic Park (no wonder they’re signed to Alcopop! Records) before heading into more of a Modern Baseball direction while ‘OK OK (Sue)’ captures the guitar sound of the early ’90s as Anouk reveals how she knows there’s so much more to life but thoughts and feelings can sometimes hold you back: ‘I wish I didn’t have every conversation we ever had constantly playing back in my head’.
‘Right Fit’ has a direct opening as Anouk refuses to compromise and change her ways, thoughts and beliefs for a partner – ‘I’m never gonna be the right fit, don’t wanna lie to you’ – before ‘Since We Met’ takes the album into a twinkly emo sound resembling Sl0tface grappling with American Football: ‘It shouldn’t be so complicated but I think that easy’s overrated’. ‘Too Good’ slows things down with acoustic strums and lyrics about both saying too much and overthinking at the same time – ‘Maybe I’m scared you don’t feel the same. Maybe I know deep down I’ll never change’ – before the record finishes with the boisterous ‘Marie’.
Personal and powerful, this is a cool record about modern young adulthood from Snow Coats.
