Officer Kicks

Officer Kicks have been around a while, but it’s only in the last couple of years that they’ve started to make any real impact. And impact is what Citywide Curfew should make. They’ve crafted an album that should appeal to hardened rockers as well as the indie crowd albeit those that lean towards Oasis's lumpen drone.

Murderland is pounding rock slightly reminiscent of The Cult. Let It Learn’s brittle guitar’s give it a palpable air of desperation and disquiet. The Kraken is a short, straightforward rocker. Control Sick’s heads into more indie territory, with a few choice crash chords lobbed in. The title track pitches up in Who territory with the bass and drums very much to the fore. Box of Dust is a darker more plaintive track.

The jangly Tom Thumb, is followed by the more pop orientated Hold The Magic, which eerily has some very Rush like guitar sounds. Automatic is a pacy little number and the most lightweight song on the album. Mrs Anderson and White Heat end the album and do sound as if they could originally have been one song. It follows the classic epic route of a quiet intro that slowly builds layer upon layer, though rather than a full on Freebird ending, it segues into the piano and strings of White Heat, and is quite superb.

It could be argued that there isn’t a great deal here that’s original, but that’s missing the point: these songs sound fresh, energetic and exciting. The band’s performance is uniformly excellent, and the production, while polished, still manages to convey their grit and swagger. Go and buy this album and play it very loud.