COKE

by Coke

Overview

Coke was a funky Latin soul and garage rock quintet from Miami, Florida. After releasing this eponymous debut album in 1972, they were forced by threat of a lawsuit to change their name to Opus. This recording was re-released in 1973 as OPUS with a similar cover design. COKE was produced by Manuel J. Mato and issued by his Sound Triangle Records. The band comprised vocalist Peter Fernandez, Paul Garcia on guitar, Ariel Hernandez on bass, Jose Rubio on organ, Ruben Perez on drums, and trumpeters Cesar Godinez and Victor Rodriguez. The album's release was greeted enthusiastically by Miami DJs and sold 10,000 copies across southern Florida in three weeks. It charted in Chicago and Los Angeles too. The record's popularity drew the attention of the beverage conglomerate, which sent a cease and desist for both the title and band name, killing the album's potential. Crate-diggers rediscovered it, and the record has been subsequently re-released several times during the 21st century. COKE's solid reputation is deserved. It's a youthful, gritty collision of funky, often psychedelic Latin soul, bugalú, and garage rock. Opener "Na Na" is a case in point. Introduced by a trap kit, congas, and a funked-up bassline, it's made for the dancefloor; when wah-wah guitars, swelling organ, and syncopated horns join the snare breaking groove, it become infectious. Fernandez's sweet yet raw vocals bring it home. In the psych-soul ballad "You Turn Me On," Rubio's atmospheric organ groove is reminiscent of Gregg Rolie's tenure with Santana. Further, Garcia's sultry guitar solo recalls Robby Kreiger's snaky guitar style with the Doors. While the brief "Got to Touch Your Face" offers killer charts with soaring, rave-up garage rock and sweeping brown-eyed soul, Fernandez's vocals aren't quite up to snuff; he gets quite nasally and flat in his upper register. Even so, it only serves to add charm. There are four songs delivered in Spanish. The quaking "Que Seria De Mi" is primarily driven by B-3 organ and an army of Ray Barretto-esque congas and soaring horns (think War), while "Te Amo Mas" weds a soaring son horn chart, a guiding, low-register rock bassline, and punchy organ chords underscored by a vicious wah-wah guitar and propulsive drumming. Speaking of wah-wah, "Bun Bun Bun" is a rave-up Latin rock jam driven by a chunka-chunka guitar and organ vamp. Fernandez's vocal perfectly fits the instrumental attack, rendering it one of the set's finest entries. It's followed by a smoking read of the Joe Cuba Sextet's scorching bugalú "Bang Bang." A romantic trumpet introduces "Sabor a Mi," a passionate modern bolero offering Fernandez's finest vocal on the album. Closer "Quiero Decirte" borrows a tag from the Stampeders' "Sweet City Woman," stitched tight into a chart-melding Cuban son, a Vaya Records groove, and Motown-style vocal arrangements. While few of COKE's sounds were original, they are arranged and performed in such an enthusiastic, musically sophisticated way that its joy, rawness, and excited innocence make it eternal. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	05/16/2025
Label:	MR BONGO
UPC:	5024017006263

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Coke   Primary Artist,Primary Artist