Citizen – Youth
Review by Trevor Figge
Citizen is a five-piece indie/punk band that has previously only released EP’s and splits. On June 11th they will officially release Youth, their first full-length album on Run For Cover Records. However, On June 4th someone leaked their album; to which they responded by releasing it for five dollars through Run For Cover’s Bandcamp. It comes as no surprise that there has been a significant amount of anticipation and hype amongst everyone in the scene leading up to this release; which is probably why the leak was spread around so rapidly. But enough about the leak, lets talk about the album.
Youth starts out with an energetic punk lead in that commands your attention then quickly fades into a slower more melodic verse. Fans of Citizen know this to be true to their style— combining melodic verses with the emotional and raspy yells of vocalist Mat Kerekes. These blend perfectly with the band’s instrumentals in order to evoke the most honest and sincere of emotions.
The album plays much like Citizen’s previous releases, but a bit tamer, less violent and more melodic. The songs flow into one another seamlessly allowing the listener to forget that they are listening to a collection of ten songs and instead are listening to one massive, free-flowing song. However, I find that I must mention that this album would fit perfectly on rainy overcast days due to the extremely raw vocals of Mat and the instrumental stylings of the rest of the band.
And if you are looking for an album to get your indie loving friends more into music with punk influences, look no further because Youth is that album. With songs like “The Summer,” “How Does It Feel” and “The Night I Drove Home Alone” you are sure to connect with Citizen on an emotional level, yet still feel both the anger that comes with punk and the calming, chill vibe that comes with more melodic indie music. Which is why I find that I’m so drawn to Citizen, because they combine these two genres so beautifully.
With this in mind, I will say if you are looking for more punk songs like Citizen’s earlier release Young States you may be disappointed by this album. Solely because Youth is packed full of more emotionally driven and melodic songs that posses the ability to tear you apart. This could be a good or bad thing depending on what you are looking for in an album. For me this is a good thing, I adore that Mat is both able to sing and have a raspy yell that could possibly convey even more emotion than the lyrics that he sings. However, I have to say that Youth is still one hundred percent true to Citizen’s style; at no point did I think that I was not listening to Citizen or that they had changed too drastically.
Overall Rating: 4/5
Recommended Tracks: “Roam The Room,” “The Night I Drove Home” and “Your Head Got Misplaced”
Website // Facebook // Twitter
