| CD REVIEW This City |
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Band : This City I’ve no good idea when this Brighton lot of merry musicians (Chris sings leads, Grant twiddles on one guitar & back him up vocally, Arran enjoys himself on the other guitar, George thumbss the bass and gives additional vocal backings, and Nick bashes on the drum kit) came into being, but I dó know that by August of 2008 the 5-piece already had released two promo-CDs (Kids With Fireworks & We Move), and also had a 7-inch vinyl single titled “We Move” to their name. In January 2009 they travelled all the way to Seattle, and spent two months there to record their debut full-length with producer Matt Bayles (check productions by him on albums by the likes of Mastodon, The Fall Of Troy, Blood Brothers, and Isis…among others). In June they proudly announced having been signed to Epitaph for the October release of their official debut album We Were Like Sharks. Working towards that event, a video was recorded for album opening track “We Move” and issued on the band’s MySpace page on August 30 (even though the official release for music tv channels was to be 12 October only). Also, with the machinery of their label backing the band up, the 5-some saw themselves invited to higher profile venues and festivals (Belgium’s PukkelPop on August 20, and in Britain they played at Freestyle, White Air, and Poprthsmouth & Southsea festivals during September). Labelled as “Indie” and “IndieRock” in previous reviews’ generalisations, I’ve been checking my brains for the best way to describe the band’s music, when all the sudden I fell upon their own words at myspace.com/thiscitymusic. And I felt the description to fit só perfectly, I simply decided to copy those words here (hey, with the job so neatly done for me, I give credit where it is due and do not –like sóme “music critics”– copy the words and pretend they’re mine, you know) : “…This City have already been described in review as ‘…like The Travelling Willburys if it was made of members from Bloc Party and At The Drive In…’ Maybe if you throw in the eyeball-popping nuances of Blood Brothers, the same turn-on-a-sixpence disco-jerk rhythms of the more danceable end of Punk (think les Savy Fav or !Forward Russia!), the impassioned cacophony of mid ‘80s Dischord Records-led emotional Hardcore, the Pop sensitivity of tykes such as TheAutomaticand substract the reference to Tom Petty and co, we might just be inclined to agree…” What sets the band apart in that description (in my mind), is the vocal delivery. While the backing singers (who deliver their contributions in quite harmonic fashion, I daresay) sing in perfect good English, the lead singer has a slight accent (Brighton?) added to his somewhat nasal/heady voice which is simply to-die-for…when you’re into that kind of vocals, that is (I’ve spotted some British concert reviewers with a “To Like Or Not To Like” dilemma, which just might be related to the vocal deliivery, you know). Personally, I’ve always been charmed by bands (whatever the musical genre) with an obvious British flair, so This City is at least safe in my books! To find out whether you belong to that same categoty of music lovers, all you need to do is go to the band’s MySpace, where you’ll find the whole album posted, or check out the band during a support performance for Eagles Of Death Metal’s current European tour (started 14/10 and ends 26/10). Belgians will have to go all the way to Tilburg (Holland) on the 26th though (because there’s simply no Belgian dates on that tour)! In the UK, fans may look forward to a small tour of the Empire starting next Nov. 25th (goes on to Dec 12). 87/100 Tony. |