- Musicianship
- Lyrics
- Originality
- Vibe
- Vocals
Singer/songwriter, Tim Coakley, a student of Berklee College of Music has two tracks ready for streaming on his latest EP. The first song, ‘Mean Girl’ immediately launches the listener into the rhythm of the bass, guitar and keyboard, yet almost as quickly turns you away once Coakley’s flagrant and exaggerated punk whine sets in. ‘Mean Girl’ does possess an addictive beat, but Oakley’s girly-pop-punk form of singing denounces its potential to be liked by any group of music enthusiasts, aside from a female “teeny bopper” fan base. Oakley’s voice even sounds off-key when chiming into his chorus, “Oohh, mean girl…”. It’s pretty obvious that his voice is being forced to do things it doesn’t agree with.
The musicality of the second track, ‘Drowning’ is catchy and definitely “head bopping” material, but the age range for fans who could actually dig his music, remains in the teens. It’s solely the way Coakley sings that changes the quality of the music–not his actual vocals. He assuredly does have a good singing voice, but it isn’t being reflected during the first couple listens to his songs. It takes several listens to find his true tone. One can hear Coakley’s likeness toward Adam Levine of Maroon 5, but Coakley is much more pop than he is rock–his vocals are more contingent to Justin Timberlake’s seductive pop style.
It is a bummer that there are only two tracks available for listening at the moment because I would like to see if there is more variety in his other songs–composition, melody and vocals-wise–however, regardless of hearing Coakley’s animated pop-punk vocals in these two tracks, he is a talented artist and I would check out further material of his.
