Conductor

The Comas formed in Chapel Hill in March 1998 as a joke country band, as a sort of counterweight to the hyped No Depression movement. Soon, however, both the "joke" and the "country" parts of the concept were eliminated, and they developed into a quirky alternative rock band. Their respectable 1999 debut effort, Wave to Make Friends, is sleepy, but not lethargic, indie pop with just-off-kilter male-female vocal harmonies, billed by their own label as "stoner pop." Their instrumental canvas is larger and more eclectic than that of the typical indie group, using violin, organ, and creative non-rap samples in addition to the usual guitars and rhythm section.