Coin

Though they got their start in Nashville, COIN have established themselves within the realm of luminous, synth-driven alternative pop typically linked to scenes in Los Angeles and New York. Their self-titled full-length arrived in 2015, followed by a first appearance on the Billboard 200 two years afterward with How Will You Know If You Never Try. The band’s fourth album, Uncanny Valley, surfaced in 2022 with a stronger electronic bent and lyrics exploring artificial intelligence alongside questions of human identity. In 2024 they issued the bright yet conflicted single “Strawberry Jam.”

Formed in 2012 by students at Belmont University, the group achieved its initial sell-out performance by the middle of 2013. Later that year Chase Lawrence (vocals/synths), Joe Memmel (guitar/vocals), Zachary Dyke (bass), and Ryan Winnen (drums) inked a deal with Columbia. Teaming with producer and co-writer Jay Joyce (Eric Church, Cage the Elephant), they unveiled their debut album in 2015; led by the track “Run,” it reached the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. The following year brought “Talk Too Much,” an ode to kissing that previewed their sophomore effort, How Will You Know If You Never Try, which entered the Billboard 200 at number 177 for one week in 2017.

Shortly after work began on the next record, Dyke exited the lineup. Released in early 2020 on The Committee for Sound and Mind, Dreamland featured additional musicians and centered Micah Tawlks on bass; while it bypassed the Billboard 200, the set extended the band’s streak on the Heatseekers chart. A pair of EPs—Indigo Violet in 2020 and Green Blue and Red Orange the next year—were later compiled as the Rainbow Mixtape, issued in April 2021 on the same imprint.

Continuing as a trio, COIN returned in March 2022 with Uncanny Valley on Homemade Projects/10K Projects, an album that probed technology’s place in human life through heightened electronics and processing. In June 2024 the group delivered “Strawberry Jam,” produced with Gabe Simon (Maroon 5, Lana Del Rey).