Like Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman, Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming surprised a lot of people when his impressive solo material came to wider attention. Like Tillman (aka Father John Misty), Fleming’s work has come out under a pseudonym (Diane Coffee) and is remarkably impressive and certainly on par with the band for which he provides beats.
Before even Foxygen, Fleming had a successful career as a voice actor, appearing on kids’ programs like Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch: The Series and Filmore! Fleming met Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado and Sam French while in high school in Southern California; the pair invited Fleming to play some Foxygen tour dates, ultimately leading to a permanent position behind the throne. Between tours, Fleming recorded a set of songs with which he was very happy, as were the people at the Western Vinyl label, which released his debut, My Friend Fish, in 2013. Fleming wanted to “embody a feminine role” for his solo effort, so he adopted the name Diane Coffee.
Fleming, who has since relocated to Bloomington, Ind., released his epic second Diane Coffee album late last year, Everybody’s a Good Dog. The album is an engaging and eclectic mélange of ’70s Rock and Pop styles, bringing to mind the late David Bowie at times with its theatrical flourishes and flirtations with Soul, Rock and Glam. Practically all of that is evident during just the opening track, “Spring Breathes,” an androgynous romp that switches between pretty harmony- and strings-layered acoustic meditations and bursts of Prog grandiosity. Elsewhere, “Tams Up” is blissful, fairly straightforward R&B shimmy, “Too Much Space Man” is swaggering Psych Pop and “Mayflower” is a horns-driven Rock & Roll boogie machine. Diane Coffee is known for flamboyant performances, something you can easily envision listening to the dynamic liveliness and animated colorfulness of Everybody’s a Good Dog.
More info on Diane Coffee’s free show here.
This article appears in Feb 3-10, 2016.