I actually quite like this band. Based north of the border, they come across like a slightly more rockin’ Kneehigh. Citing U2, Jimmy Eat World and The Cure as influences, I wouldn’t say City sound like any of the trio, although I can see why they would make reference to them. A three-piece, the band make quite a din yet always seem to cake their sound in plenty of melodies – the vocals and backing vox are great, the drums fit nicely and the guitar riffs are far from the bog-standard.
‘The Action’ will have your toes tapping in no time, but it’s ‘Sail Away’ and ‘All I Have Is Me’ which stick out. The former features some really lovely vocals, a feature throughout. City don’t do anything they can’t; in a sense the vocalist reminds me of Aaron marsh of Copeland meets Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics, which I guess isn’t a bad thing. The soaring vocals and the atmospheric guitars during ‘Sail Away’ add to the overall quality of the song – for a first demo this is highly impressive stuff.
‘All I Have Is me’ continues the theme and arguably hs the catchiest chorus of them all. The outro, where the vocalist really goes for it, is actually a little Bono-esque. I don’t mean to over-use the praise, but this is a very promising little EP and I’m looking forward to hearing more from City in the near future.
www.myspace.com/cityrock
Paul