There’s no doubt that Melbourne’s City City City can rock out – there’s a tumbling (at times shambolic) energy reminiscent of Broken Social Scene when they gather momentum. But when they apply the brakes and descend into slow mode things get slippery and surreal. That these transitions can happen several times in the same song and still work is a testament to their compositional nous and solidity as an ensemble. But there’s more!
‘East Brunswick Run Down’ is classic Neu! metronomic avant rock, ‘Fail Better’ has an almost early Hunters And Collectors tribalism and ‘Fallujah’ is the party stopper from hell, all soundscrapes and eerie drones. ‘The 4am Cavalry Pt 1’ revels in layers of droning My Bloody Valentine-esque noise before bursting into mid-tempo rock and sweet melody. ‘Pt 2’ is funky and progressive with mini-Mogwai crashes. ‘Train’ moves through more terrain than the Trans Siberian Express. ‘Skim’ has guitar lines like Booker T infused with a Duane Eddy twang and its horn lines recall Do Make Say Think or The Aints.
It’s obvious this has been cooked up in their own studio. You can hear the hard work that has gone into this epic album. In the old days this would have been a sprawling 2LP set, no doubt with suitably out-there gatefold graphics. The perfect surface to roll a number on.
Dan Joyce
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