Concert Preview: Girl in a Coma

San Antonio rock band Girl in a Coma is set to play a show with The Cliks tomorrow night at Fitzgerald’s. The young band [pictured] has had a pretty charmed life thus far; legendary rocker Joan Jett signed the Girl(s) to her Blackheart Record Label, and the ladies have been tapped to go on tour early next year with their idol, Morrissey.

It’s easy to see the reason for the band’s good fortunes. Lead singer Nina Diaz’s spitfire vocal inflection sounds a bit like a female version of the Smiths’ frontman if there ever was one, and she wields a guitar with a raucous authority. Drummer/Nina’s older sister Phanie Diaz, and bassist Jenn Alva round out the trio with their solid musical chops. The Smiths’ influence goes beyond GIAC’s sound, inspiring the band’s name (a play on the Smiths’ song “Girlfriend in a Coma”) and even Nina’s lyrical sensibility, which tends to occupy the morose anti-love song territory that Moz enjoyed so much. But the girls' love for British sad-boy rock of the 80’s is firmly rooted in the American garage band tradition, and it’s apparent that they’ve taken a page from Sleater Kinney and other great punk acts.

Watch the video for the song “Clumsy Sky” from Girl in a Coma’s new album, Both Before I’m Gone:

Girl in a Coma with The Cliks and Say When
Fitzgerald’s: 2706 White Oak Drive
Thursday, December 13, 2007
$6 in advance, $10 at the door, All Ages, Doors, 8 p.m.
Tickets online