CITIES IN DUST – NIGHT CREATURES (Paper Bag)
Named after a Siouxsie & The Banshees song, Cities in Dust play a ferocious brand of 70’s punk that often strays into indie rock and hardcore territory. But not that pissy-whining emo-style hardcore, real hardcore. Their hotly anticipated debut, Night Creatures explodes in your face with a burst of noise and rhythm that makes you feel like dancing and fighting at the same time. Vocalist Zach Frank varies his dynamics between all-out screams, subdued breakdowns and top-shelf melodies reminiscent of Cedric Bixler’s work in At the Drive-In mixed with the wild abandon of Voidoids’ Richard Hell. Produced by Uncut’s Jon Drew, Night Creatures boasts thick, distinct drum sounds and big-as-hell bass that makes each song sound about 50 feet tall. A constant asset to CiD is Simon Toye’s creative guitar work. Toye is able to change the entire atmosphere of certain songs just by switching from one riff to the next. The challenge, which Toye totally succeeds at, is making each bit distinct yet still interesting and catchy. Despite its abrasive edge there is a pop mentality buried deep into each track on Night Creatures. One of the catchiest moments on the disc is the opening verse to Got the Clap. A sharp, melodic guitar hook is laid on top of an ominously grooving bass line, and when drummer Matt Winters switches to his hi-hat a moment of pure rock bliss is created. Other standouts include “Beautiful,” “Save the Last Dance” and the lead single, “Chop Chop You’re Dead.” Watch out their cross Canada tour later this summer and for a limited edition 7″ vinyl pressing of “Chop Chop You’re Dead.” -JB
Cities in Dust play two shows at the Mod Club on June 9th with Controller.Controller, Magneta Lane, Uncut and more.
Rating: VVVVv
Download: “Save the Last Dance”
Website: www.myspace.com/citiesindust
THE COAST – S/T (Independent)
On their first EP The Coast showcase their affinity for rocky New Order, Coldplay and the Verve by building dreamy soundscapes out of delay-heavy guitar lines and melodic vocals. Front man Ben Spurr does a great job of exuding his personal and inspired lyrics without sounding pretentious or whiny, while drummer Jordan Melchiorre switches nicely between atmospheric and driving beats. Highlights of the self-titled disc include the massive “Take a Walk Outside” and the pretty night-ender “Evening’s Heights.” After playing the Toronto circuit for over five years The Coast have matured nicely into one of the city’s best brit-influenced live acts. If this disc is any indication they’ll only be getting better and bigger. When’s the UK tour boys? -JB
The Coast play the Drake Underground on Saturday May 20 with Tokyo Police Club.
Rating: VVVV
Download: “Take a Walk Outside”
Website: www.myspace.com/thecoastmusic
FAKTION – TAKE IT ALL AWAY (Roadrunner)
Wow. Who would have thought that anyone would still want to boast about a connection to Nickelback and Theory of a Deadman? Faktion from Dallas Texas certainly do, and they even have the goatees to prove it. Every member of this nu-metal three-days-disgrace is pictured sporting either a goatee, a soul patch or a goatee and a soul patch, most likely at the behest of label mate / shit-rock Svengali, Chad Kroeger. On this seven track CD single Roadrunner introduces the world to the first Faktion single Take it all Away (eds. Oh, how I wish they would!) a pulsating blast of all that is wrong with rock music right now. Generically distorted guitars and cookie cutter bass and drums yield to patronizing “why me?” vocals which include the cerebral lyrics “You never cared about anything /?I even wondered /?If you knew that I was alive / That’s not right”. Whoa, slow down there, I think I need to take a brain nap. Despite the shitty song, the worst (or best) part of this comical CD are the six additional promotional tracks. Presumably recorded in haste for radio use the 15 second tracks feature the five guys from the band joking around and in the studio saying things like “Hi, we’re Faktion and you’re listening to our new single on your favourite radio station.” How personal! Not only is the name of the station an obvious blank, so is the identity of the lead single, implying that even the band had no clue which song their label would pick for them. Weak, guys. Really, really weak. But also hilarious.
Rating: 0
Download: Something else!
Website: www.faktionband.com
TOKYO POLICE CLUB – A LESSON IN CRIME (Paper Bag)
Packed to the brim with shout-along choruses and catchy guitar parts this debut EP from Toronto’s youngest indie-popsters shimmers and shines and shows loads of potential. With entertaining lyrics about robot masters and worldwide emergencies singer Dave Monks stakes out vocal ground somewhere between Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and the Walkman’s Hamilton Leithauser, only way younger and less bitter. While tracks like “Shoulders & Arms” don’t fall far from the Bloc Party tree, they still come off as being leagues ahead all the pathetic indie-wannabes (cough, cough, Mobile…) lurking around out there. With an average song length somewhere around 2:00 even, TPC would be wise to try pushing the edge of the three minute envelope on their debut LP. But thanks to a generous helping of sincerity with a side of creativity (served up in part by talented Toronto producer Jon Drew) A Lesson in Crime’s seven tracks make for a fun, catchy listen that’s sure to pick up the life of many a party, if only for sixteen minutes. -JB
Tokyo Police Club play the Drake Underground on Saturday May 20 with The Coast.
Rating: VVVv
Download: Nature of the Experiment
Website: www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub
