One of the truisms of every artist you know is, their personal music library is so much more diverse than their own catalog. That which tugs at their soul to create and what inspires them to do so are like a Venn diagram: There’s overlap, but it’s not a circle. Midwest group Citizen have embodied this notion in their quest to release whatever feels genuine at the time, as their amorphous tunes have felt both liminal in scope and truly authentic for its time. It’s resulted in a career awash with surprising left turns and continued growth along the way, even if not every record hits the same for each fan.
Coming up from the post-hardcore scene that birthed Title Fight and Balance And Composure, Youth felt like a brash breath of fresh air, while personal (previous) favorite As You Please embodied that soft grunge style with hooks that have stayed with me almost a decade later. There’s even a hint of that Bruce Springsteen/John Mellancamp blue collar ethos that grounded the songs with grit. Later records have added influences from post-punk, the garage rock revival, and even 2010s indie rock, of course filtered through a shoegaze and Midwest emo lens. Those intervening two records make much more sense with Citizen’s magnum opus, Halcyon Blues, out now via Run For Cover Records, is a record that recontextualizes everything that made the band interesting, while also delivering their sharpest hooks to date. It’s also decidedly their most diverse and cohesive record to date.
The variety is what will continue to surprise throughout your first spin. From the start, there’s more verve behind the riffs and rhythm section, where even the ballads contain a bridge or section that reveals hints of sonic violence. There’s no truth to calling this a heavy record, but it finally feels like Citizen have discovered a comfort zone of punk that skirts the line between 80s post-punk and 90s punk. The fact that they’ve also smoothly added in some of the best aspects of 00s/10s indie rock. “Is It In My Brain” is like if The Hives covered a lost Phoenix single, but still very Citizen. “Always the Last One to Leave” is reminiscent of Tame Impala if they microdosed amphetamines. Elsewhere, “Matador” and “Highs and Lows” sound like classic 80s post-punk anthems, while “Smooth Talker” reminded me of (no joke) Third Eye Blind. There’s a ton of alt rock moments throughout, almost within and without any specific reference points.
If that makes it sound like Citizen are all over the place, the results couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s like the band are offering up different flavoring agents instead of different dishes; it goes down quite smoothly. Think of it like the band finally aligning all of their various influences and eras to create the most Citizen-y record to date; it’s incredibly cohesive in large part because it bears the sound of a band who is not only firing on all cylinders but just having a damn blast along the way. The only minor misstep the acoustic closer “Anne,” a hazy ditty that switches up production styles and sounds in a way that somewhat makes sense in context but feels like a letdown after the preceding ten tracks. Don’t like a blip distract you from the fact that Citizen have released maybe the best summer-y indie punk record in years and a clear career high. Melodic perfection.
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