The Citizens - Drinking Games
Posted Sun 20 Jul 2008 18:19 by lazarus.
The Citizens are another well established band that I am yet to see live so, until this unacceptable situation is resolved, I thought that the next best thing would be to put pen to paper in respect of their most recent EP, Drinking Games. I managed to gather some information from their MySpace blurb the reviews posted there, though all this talk of Oasis and Stone Roses made me a wonder whether or not it was going to be my cup of Earl Grey. Not that I have anything against either band, it’s just that they both have such defined sounds, anything close would probably just appear like short change.
Thankfully, as soon as the title track hoved into earshot, I realised that there was something a lot more interesting at work, something that immediately put me in mind of Reverend and the Makers jamming with Artic Monkeys over a rockabilly back beat, now that’s how you grab my attention. The fuzzed up guitar pushes them in a rock direction, but it’s tempered by some interesting keyboards work. Although their building blocks are mainly the stuff of the old blues rock format, it’s the inclusion of this subtle electronica that keeps it grounded in the here and now.
War Machine comes at you like a fully fledged indie band, all clean limbed and oozing groove and melody, and includes some nice dynamic shifts as the song moves from its driving guitar base down into more mainstream rock territory before kicking back in with a polished punk play out. Before you know it a warped bass is pulling us gently into the last number, Better Than The Truth, a song that seems to entertain ideas of funk, ska, retro-rock and even a reggae meets carnival keyboard, all without sounding disjointed or unfocused.
What I appreciate most about their music is the fact that they have something to say other than the usual “fancy a dance?” or “my girlfriend has left me and I’m a bit miffed, to be honest”. Maybe not the earth shattering statements of global magnitude but, certainly the stuff of social conscience and politics with a small “p”.
It’s a polished, small collection of songs, by a band that certainly knows how to write infectious tunes that match power with subtlety, drive with melody, and sound original yet familiar at the same time. If this is what they sound like within the limiting confines of the recorded disc, this is a band that I really need to experience in the flesh. As soon as possible.
Comments (6)
Steve
Cheers
S
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The Citizens