Diane Coffee: Everybody’s Good Dog Review

By Kendra Sells
Music Reviewer

Artist: Diane Coffee
Album: Everybody’s a Good Dog
Label: Western Vinyl
Release Date: September 4, 2015
Website: http://westernvinyl.com/artists/diane-coffee

Although school is back in session, Diane Coffee just dropped a perfect summer album. Shaun Flemming, ex-drummer of the groove group Foxygen, takes route towards n 60s motown, R&B and bubblegum rock in Everybody’s a Good Dog. The album  is perfect for dancing at poolsides, or sunny, convertible-top down drives to the river with your best friends.

This album opens with tracks that feel retro, yet contemporary, but as I listen further, it begins to sound like another “oldies” band.  “Down With the Current” sounds like every Smokey Robinson song mashed into one and nearly abandons the “neo-motown” vibe that I was getting ready to marvel over. The album goes back and forth between “wow I’ve never heard anything like this before” and “I know exactly where I’ve heard this before.”  Whether one hears this project as a rip-off of the golden days or innovative and progressive, there’s no doubt that he managed to pull off a collection of carefree/feel good songs. My favorite tracks include “Mayflower” and “Duet.”

Flemming writes about trials of discovery, rebellion, and love. Opposed from his first solo album, My Fish Friend which was written in isolation from an illness while living in LA, Everybody’s a Good Dog was written and recorded in college town Bloomington, Indiana while Flemming was experiencing better health- explaining the youthful, fun and vibrant tone that’s more prevalent in this album.

Diane Coffee will be on tour this fall in the US. Check out “May Flower” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PRPC0t5qeY