Double Coda

The Glands' small recorded output was strong enough that any list of great bands who ended before their time would be invalid unless it featured them prominently. Their 1997 debut, Double Thriller, was loose and limber indie rock that put them on the radar, and 2000's self-titled record was a classic that showed off bandleader Ross Shapiro's genius as a songwriter and crafter of immediate, sticky hooks that were hard to shake even if one wanted to. After those two albums, the band went into slumber mode and tragically never released anything else before Shapiro's passing in 2016. Before he died, he gave longtime Glands drummer Joe Rowe and producer David Barbe permission to put together a collection of unreleased tracks. Double Coda features songs recorded between 1996 and 2003 by Shapiro and Rowe with the help of a group of loyal musicians, and it's a beautifully done reminder of Shapiro's gifts as a writer and singer. It's also a bummer, since it's clear that the Glands could have made at least one more brilliant record, and probably more, judging by the tracks here. The tracks collected on Double Coda are a bracing mix of AOR-friendly rockers ("Have Your Cake" and "Feelies"), bubbling electropop ("Electricity"), dreamy ballads ("Possibilities"), and piano pop that puts Ben Folds to shame ("Todd Work"). In fact, quite a few of the songs from the era eschew guitars entirely in favor of a variety of keyboards. It's a shift, but Shapiro had the skills to pull it off without a hitch. The pre-Glands tracks were all worth saving too; most of them would have been highlights on either of their actual albums. The swaggering Big Star crunch of "So High" and the rip-roaring power pop jam "Pleaser" are instant classics, "Clover" is a lovely dream folk ballad, "Atmosphere" is almost painfully bouncy (and features hilariously corny record scratching), and "Rufino Tamayo" is the kind of low-key, slightly odd, but immediately catchy song Shapiro specialized in. There's not a bum track to be found among the 23 tracks, which leads one to imagine that there are more gems tucked away in the vaults waiting for future release. Even if there isn't, it's enough that Double Coda exists and these breathtakingly great songs are finally out for people to hear and fall in love with. The Glands used to be a band with only a great record and a perfect record to their name; now they have another one, and it's about as close to perfect as a collection of unreleased tracks can get.