Before playing Bonnaroo and some other major festivals this summer, Nashville upstarts COIN will hit small clubs in support of its 2015 debut album. The band seems poised for a breakout this year. The first hit “Run” got heavy alt-radio airplay, and new single “Talk Too Much” recently hit 10 million streams on Spotify. Both songs make use of glossy guitar, melodic synth lines, danceable kick-drum backbeats, and anthemic vocals. Their brand of high-energy evokes comparisons to other indie pop-rock bands like Two Door Cinema Club or The 1975. Keeps, a psych-rock duo (also from Nashville), and Kid Runner, a pop punk group from Columbus, will open for COIN. (Johnny Cook)
Africa & Byzantium considers the complex artistic relationships between northern and eastern African Christian kingdoms and the Byzantine Empire from the fourth…