Citizens! – Here We Are

Album Review by Sam Wiseman | 04 Jun 2012
Album title: Here We Are
Artist: Citizens!
Label: Kitsune
Release date: 4 Jun

The rhythmic, bass-driven swagger of Here We Are, the debut from this London quintet, fits it comfortably enough alongside dancefloor-oriented outfits of recent times like The Rapture or Franz Ferdinand; Citizens! in fact supported the former on tour last year, and the LP was produced by Alex Kapranos. The elements, as a result, are familiar enough: funky, disco-inflected bass and percussion underpins strident, high-pitched vocals and terse-yet-catchy keyboard or guitar riffs.

The LP’s greatest strength is in its pop sensibilities – lead singer Tom Burke has declared their desire to make “pop music that is imaginative, exciting and interesting” – particularly on the effortlessly catchy singles True Romance and Reptiles. Here We Are is in fact almost wall-to-wall hooks, and although the band’s anthemic post-post-punk schtick does sometimes feel a little predictable, there are enough singalong moments to demonstrate that there’s life yet in this kind of disco-rock template.

http://www.citizens.cz