City Calm Down: In A Restless House
4 / 5
I Oh You 2015 Reviewed By Brendan CooperCity Calm Down’s debut album, In A Restless House is audible proof that a first attempt doesn’t have to be a messy and rushed affair. And if you look past the initial comparisons with other Cure or Joy Division throwbacks, you’ll hear this tightly arranged Melbourne quartet making some rather interesting, brooding and at the very least, very catchy music.
If you’re hearing Jack Bourke’s voice for the first time, you wouldn’t be blamed for mistaking it for The Killers’ Brandon Flowers. Soaring, emotive and just plain lovely, Bourke’s voice plays like an instrument itself cutting through the entirety of the album. His towering choruses, pained cries and ghostly verses boar into your ears and echo through your soul; Bourke’s baritone really is the backbone of this album.
In A Restless House is a great achievement in re-imagining genre. You’ll be uplifted by cathedral like synths, thrown down to a somber mood by moving lyrics, then suddenly you’ll feel like dancing in elation to a great riff and hook. This free-for-all is evident in the brilliant track, Your Fix. Musically the song is joyous and upbeat, while the lyrics ooze melancholy. Contrasting the emotions of the music with the vocals works so well throughout the record, with notable highlights including the newest single, Son, and the heartfelt sing-along ballad, Rabbit Run.
Everything has been bottled up with precision and coolness, until finally released in its high energy ninth track, Falling. With a higher BPM, speedy riffs, and Bourke’s vocals at full throttle, it would’ve been easy for City Calm Down to lose the plot just a little bit. But thankfully the band holds it all together. On the other end of the spectrum, tracks like Nowhere to Start, slow things down to a swirling, dreamy pop jam, of equal to anything from Sydney-siders The Preatures. The diversity of the tracks on this album proves how versatile City Calm Down has become since we first heard them back on their debut EP Movements (2012).
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