This City are a band that will instantly divide people. With a sound that fuses elements of bands as far separated as At The Drive-In and The Automatic, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s not to say it shouldn’t be. ‘We Were Like Sharks‘ is a solid and quirky little release, but I worry its quirkiness may limit the band’s appeal.
There’s one reason for this – the vocals. Chris Purr’s approach to singing isn’t the most conventional, and it’s because of this that I fear people may be put off. His delivery is a sort of rocket-fuelled spoken word affair, which is very ‘Marmite’ in it’s appeal. Thankfully, I love Marmite. And I love this band’s sound. The likes of ‘We Move’ and ‘Picture This’ are well-structured, concisely written ditties, and throughout the record there’s beautiful towering choruses aplenty to counteract Purr’s staccato tones.
Behind the vocals, This City are accomplished musicians that mix indie-pop rhythms with a punk rock dynamic, and they do it incredibly well. There aren’t really any badly-written songs here, but there are one or two that stand head and shoulders above the rest – ‘Picture This’ and ‘Colours’ are exemplary displays of this band’s capacity to pen a good tune or two.
This City aren’t for everyone – they’ll either going to strike a real chord or a real nerve. However, those who write them off after the first couple of listens will be the ones losing out because there’s some real talent here. Epitaph Records have noticed this – you should too.