Sometimes somewhere a band comes out of the shadows and blows your socks off. Well, Civic just about did that and had the foundations of RPM HQ shaking to its core as the reckless guitars and Moon the loonesque drum beats tour it up through the speakers. The unrelenting evil powers of Rock and Roll came out of the Melbourne suburbs and across oceans to get to us but boy when it did it has lost none of its sheer power or excitement. No, it’s not original but what Civic have done is captured all the excitement of Rock and Roll and slammed it down within these here grooves along with the danger and sheer adrenaline rush you sometimes get off of hearing a band for the first time. but it’s not all crash bang wallop, no sir.
We don’t mind arriving at the party fashionably late sometimes it’s a necessity to let the dust settle and the important thing is your here now. Not a great deal is known about Civic we couldn’t find much if any cyber presence and our contacts down under seemed a little cakey maybe they’re dangerous to know and people are keeping their new favourite band close to their chests. Anyway, Let’s get this show on the road and try and make sense of the seven songs carpet bombed over twenty minutes.
‘Nuclear Son’ sort of sets the tone its like many previous Australian bands that we know and so should you have a feeling that seems uniquely southern Hemisphere but there are certainly elements of The Saints and Radio Birdman going on here as well as obvious inspirations like Iggy and the Stooges but ‘Nuclear Son’ is like audio nitrogen its off like a rocket sure there is a certain amount of ‘Raw Power’ happening but damn its sounds great as it pounds toward the guitar break its not anything new but boy does it still give me a rush when its done this well. Jim McCullough, Lewis Hodgson, Darcy Grigg, Roland Hlavka and David Forcier make up Civic and they should take a bow because this is fantastic. It only took me a few plays and I’ve been hooked ever since. From the thrash bang wallop of the openers to the slow burn of ‘Street Machine Dream’ and its sleazy dark pace its a fantastic collection of songs.
‘Call The Doctor’ could be a newly found Banshees song given a steady diet of Australian Beer and dragged around a bunch of dive bars as it builds and moves away from the opening guitar lick the bass is more of a stomp than a throb but the howls of Call The Doctor couldn’t be more appropriate. They finish this heart-pumping seven with ‘Burning Steel’ and just let it rip. Like I’ve alluded to these guys don’t reinvent the wheel just spin it like a motherfucker and see where it goes and luckily for them, they’ve collided it into a bunch of awesome influences and managed to squeeze out a superb album that I really honestly suggest you should investigate. If you’ve ever had the slightest inkling or hankering for some punk rock whatever genre or garage rock or whatever rock you like then check this bad boy out. You can thank me later.
Author:Dom Daley
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