Classic, creative and cohesive
For listeners looking for a long overdue injection of straightforward rock and roll, Citizen has you covered. With their latest effort, Calling the Dogs, the band delivers a raucous yet focused blast of driven guitars and bass, wild drum grooves and hard-hitting lyrics paired with stellar vocals. In other words, they’ve got it all.
No surprise to fans of the band, Citizen leans heavily on a traditional rock sound and does so with ease and effectiveness. After 4 successful albums, the band continues to solidify their impressive grip on the rock genre with their fifth project, which continues to thrive on its solid instrumentals and relatable lyrics, staples of both the rock genre and Citizen’s previous music. Though the core elements adhere to a formula that has succeeded time and time again, the album itself is nowhere near devoid of personality and style, rather it flourishes because of the character that the band brings to the table. Take the vocals for example, while there are an abundance of beautiful harmonies to be heard, namely the very powerful octave doublings heard on “Headtrip,” “Bad Company” and most of the other tracks, the non-melodic vocals that pertain mostly to the background and even sometimes in the foreground like on “If You’re Lonely” give those tracks an added sense of angst, which supports the lyrics quite well. Lyrics like “Why don’t you bang this into your head? Into your brain, right through your skull” are made more potent by the shouted backing vocals, as if the intention is to shout directly to the listener and maybe at a specific person or people who the band anticipates will hear the track.
The copious amount of character doesn’t stop at the vocals. It leaks into the rest of the instrumentals as well, with each element being so distinct that without any one part, the tracks would sound incomplete. Some incredibly innovative drumming sets an equally incredibly interesting foundation for the rest of the band to build off of. In tracks like “Needs” and “Bad Company” the interchanging drum grooves are so essential to the energy of the songs and the pocket that is created is so tight that it could snap like a rubber band at any second. The band also very clearly understands the importance of space just as much and values it just as much as the notes. Occasional drops of instrumentals give a very much needed breath of fresh air in tracks like “Needs” and “When I Let You Down”, emphasizing certain lyrics and other instrumental parts. With no instrumental ego to be found, the group works cohesively to create groovy textures to supplement their powerful songwriting, making for a collaborative effort that is sure to become a staple of their discography.
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