Melbourne's City Calm Down is a truly exciting band, one you just know are bound for big things. The four piece have already supported the likes of Friendly Fires, Faithless, and Kimbra, and critics have been quick to compare them to Cut Copy, Joy Division, and The Horrors. Despite performing together for four years, they've only just released their debut EP
Movements (via I OH YOU).
Completed only a few weeks ago, the band worked alongside noted producer Malcom Besley (Goldfields, Snakadaktal) to finalize what is a stunning debut. The EP's six tracks are anything but "calm" as their name would suggest; intense and frantic, they've created evocative music well beyond their experience.
"Burn Slow" opens the EP in stunning style, building steadily before launching into pulsating choruses dripping in wave after wave of synth. "Sense of Self" is one of their more upbeat tracks, a real throwback to some of the more vibrant 80s pop groups. Single "Pleasure and Consequence" is a jewel of a track. Focusing on an extraterrestrial soundscape (which will be familiar to fans of The Horrors and Joy Division), it's all echoing vocals, aching bass riffs, and precise synth arrangement.
There are a lot of bands trying to make this type of music at the moment, but most of them aren't (nearly) this good. City Calm Down have delivered on a major scale with
Movements, and this release signals them as a major force in Australian music going forward. Definitely one to watch.