Album review: Citizen – Calling The Dogs

Relatively speaking, Citizen aren’t an old band. Formed in 2009 and breaking out a decade ago with Will Yip-produced debut LP Youth, they’re roughly of the same generation as enduring heroes Turnover, Turnstile and Basement. Where those acts are still building on their striking formulae, though, the Michigan crew seem to have watched that aforementioned youth pass them by, and album five bears many of the hallmarks of awkward alt.rock middle-aged malaise.

That’s not to say Calling The Dogs is bad. From the moment freewheeling opener Headtrip trickles from the speakers, delivering angsty lyrics (‘I want to be a big, strong soldier / Go out with a gun to the throat / I want to have a big headstone, yeah…’) over easy indie-rock instrumentation, it is eminently listenable. Hyper Trophy packs some pulsating attitude and clever wordplay around its jangly guitars. Dogs drips in a little territorial piss and vinegar: its hydrant-humping bassline, distended bridge and breathy delivery drawing you in even if it ultimately leads nowhere.

The thing is that, at their best, Citizen are capable of an emotional punch like few others. Sometimes that’s in the rumble of their experimentally grungy sound; more often in the understated melancholy and intensity of Mat Kerekes’ heart-on-sleeve vocals. Kudos for stepping outside the box, but trading those for the fun and frivolity of a sound and swagger that’s mostly far closer to 2000s garage-rock suggests they’ve lost touch with what makes their music really connect. Fortunately, moments like brilliantly spiky, melodramatic mid-album highlight Lay Low offer the promise that they’re more than capable of finding their way back.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Turnover, Tigers Jaw, Basement

Calling The Dogs is out now via Run For Cover