Words: Ryan Getz
I am wont to think of a time where I was more hyped on a record solely based on word of mouth.
I think it was last Fall that I first got wind of Civilian. I caught Bandit at Double Happiness and their touring drummer Jordan McGee told me about this new band he just joined. Civilian of course. Follow that with months of seeing Derek Webb gush over the band on social media, and hearing two trusted Ohio friends who moved to Nashville back those claims and I was just about sold.
In a sea of indie pop and electronic-based indie music that I’ve been gravitating toward these last few years, I knew upon hearing “Skulls” in September that this was the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I was waiting for. CIVILIAN’s debut release on Tooth and Nail Records emerges at just the right time. For some reason, when Autumn rolls around I simultaneously find myself embracing music that carries a bit more of a state of melancholy, yet feel a renewed stirring in the air of the music scene at the same time. This record is an embodiment of those two effects.
In early reviews I’ve heard folks compare the album to Brand New and Death Cab in the same breath, and while both seem like a bit of a stretch at first glance it makes more and more sense the more you dig into the record. I would say that the vocals lean less Ben Gibbard and more Evan Weiss (of Into It. Over It.) at times. The song “New Love” meanders between emo and driving rock and “I Told You” communicates simultaneously a sense of pensiveness in the vocals and urgency in the guitars. “Judas,” the album closer, is another highlight from the get go, with a stormy feel that doesn’t break from the overall vibe of the record. There’s also a sense of vulnerability that permeates each song, which adds to the genuine factor.
CIVILIAN has all the ingredients to be America’s next indie rock darlings. I just hope people wake up and take notice.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/287221617″ /]
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