The first time I met Shaun Fleming, he was warming up for a radio session with his main band, Foxygen. Though planted behind a drum kit, Fleming’s energy has made him one of Foxygen’s most exuberant characters. Decked in white on the stark cover of his second outing as Diane Coffee, Fleming is an electric warrior for a new generation. Unlike the woolen, home-recorded sounds of his 2013 debut, Everybody’s A Good Dog is crisp, shimmering and bombastic. Horns blare while Fleming plays a strutting huckster on the euphoric “Mayflower,” while on “Down With The Current,” Fleming gives an impressive turn as blue-eyed soulster. This “anything goes” approach could have been a hurdle for the still-budding solo artist, but Fleming tackles each turn with enthusiasm and serious chops. As Diane Coffee, Fleming is free to explore influences and ideas that Foxygen might not touch, and he takes this opportunity for all it has.
—Eric Schuman
