Review: Coby Carlucci

Album cover with gun, knife and drugs on a dirty street

New Hampshire singer-songwriter, Coby Carlucci, is a good find. Musically similar to REM, Counting Crows and very much like Tommy Malone’s Tiny Town, this is contemporary rock but it is very dark under the jangly rock sound. The up-tempo, bright guitars and catchy refrains mask a twisted truth. The lyrics reveal alienation, lost promise, cynicism, teen alcohol fueled rages, suicidal tendencies and parenticidal urges. The words are artfully paired with guitar chords, fast breaks and driving rhythms. Carlucci’s got the drive in his belly and the ability to put it down, making the deepest darknesses live. The cover says it all in a still life of a gun, knife and drugs strewn on a dirty street corner.—Mark Gresser