The insistent indie rock rhythms that open the latest single from Canadian collective We Are The City feel at once very familiar and very unusual. There is something bubbling just before the surface–some restrained tension that feels close to welling up and bursting forth from the all too familiar indie rock facade which the band cultivates on the track. And the band doesn’t disappoint. When the music dies down and singer Cayne McKenzie’s vocals come to the forefront, we all know what’s coming, and the force of the musical catharsis hits like a tidal wave, surging over everything in its path. Brandishing trills of orchestral strings, memorable keyboard runs, and a surprisingly buoyant lead and rhythm section, the band outdistances its influences by contorting and twisting them into something new and original.
The sophomore album Violent from We Are The City is set to come out on June 4th via Hidden Pony Records. Listen to “Baptism” below.
