Sean Wolfe

Citizen's sophomore LP, Everybody Is Going to Heaven, intertwines calm, quiet melodies with throat-wrenching screams in a way that isn't abrasive to the listener.

Citizen - Everybody is Going to Heaven

Released - (June 23, 2015)

Rating - 3.5/5

Teased by the single release of "Silo" in 2014, Citizen's increasingly dissonant style began to emerge.

Youth, the band's first full-length album release, instantly became one of my favorite releases of 2013. Mat Kerekes' honest and introspective lyrics struck me in a straightforward way that I had grown to appreciate since my first listens of the EP, Young States, from 2012. Coupled with production by the Philadelphia-based producer Will Yip — who has a consistent track record of excellent work including releases from bands like Title Fight (Hyperview) and Balance and Composure (The Things We Think We're Missing) — Citizen set themselves apart from the cookie-cutter tendencies of the pop-punk genre.  

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Citizen, a Midwest band with members from Michigan and Ohio, falls somewhere between punk and indie. The loud, distorted guitar and bass are intertwined with soft melodies and calm vocals.

However, Everybody is Going to Heaven (EIGTH) took longer to resonate. Also produced by Yip, the album's production is uncontested. But, as many others have pointed out, the album is reminiscent of Brand New's Daisy, the band’s latest and certainly most daring release. Brand New fans seem to either detest the record or absolutely love it, with few falling somewhere in between.

Citizen's LP seemed to have a similar reaction. By Kerekes stating Brand New is one of his favorite bands, it’s easy to notice the influence by the Citizen’s further experimentation with more minor chords and melodies in Everybody’s Going to Heaven.

Comparisons aside, however, Citizen has proven themselves able to seemingly effortlessly blend Kerekes' vocal range, which can move from a near-whisper to screams (like in the song “Numb Yourself”), with the band's potential to produce a wall of sound with bass-heavy riffs and distorted, melodic chords.

The harsh, honest and straightforward lyrics of Citizen's previous works are part of the appeal, but EIGTH's lyrical content is much less transparent — instead it's chock-full of metaphors that revealed Kerekes was capable of a more poetic approach.

While not drastically different from Youth, EIGTH is certainly a fresh take on Citizen's signature style. In initial listens, certain songs such as "Numb Yourself," and "Yellow Love," were immediately attention-grabbing, but it was more difficult to be drawn in by the others at first. The single release of "Cement" offered a preview of what was to come — which was a gloomy, grim atmosphere that caught me off guard even for Citizen's standards.

But that tension created by the dissonant lead guitar notes and verses is eventually relieved in the choruses. Neither too harsh nor soft, Citizen successfully created a balance in EIGTH that could have been tipped in either direction if not for careful planning, production and dedication.  

It is evident that a large amount of time went into the production of this record, and any band that takes its work that seriously deserves respect. Citizen provides a breath of fresh air in a genre that has to tendency to be reigned by similarity.

Rating: 3.5/5

@seanthomaswolfe

sw399914@ohio.edu

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