Citizens! - European Soul

Leaving aside the fact that they pissed-off autocorrect software worldwide, Citizens! made quite the welcome entrance onto the indie-pop scene in 2012. With their band-name exclamation to fellow people and their heartfelt expressions of modern-day romances, their debut LP whipped-up neon scoops of excitement like a rainbow Mr. Whippy. It has to be said, however, that it was a touch one-dimensional; elements of it felt claustrophobic, possibly caused by the tight-knit production of indie-wizard Alex Kapranos. For Franz Ferdinand, this works a charm; but it didn’t really fit with the expansive electronic potential that Citizens! possessed.

Well, the good news is that the fourpiece have made a proper fun, open-ended album in Paris. Supposedly inspired by soul music, elements of the genre are certainly weaved into the house-inspired ‘Lighten Up’ or the neo-soul groove of ‘Only Mine’. But, by far, more potent influences are at work; the most obvious influence is the Pet Shop Boys, with Tom Burke’s vocals sounding strikingly similar to Neil Tennant in its infectious, helium-injected hyperactivity. The big-haired 80s ghosts of Soft Cell and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark can be seen lurking throughout the record, which certainly ain’t a bad thing; the melodies are New Romantic, kitsch and ridiculously camp.

Best of all, the ring-pull has been snapped-off and their sound has become airy and – in some places – bloody massive. ‘Are Your Ready?’ wears its pop-slogan T-Shirt with pride, with all its gigantic euro-pop synths and chart-ready hooks. Ridiculously addictive backing-vocals and harmonies are abound; ‘Trouble’ has call-and-response bits ridiculously like The Police (in a great, great way, trust) and the snaking chic-ness of ‘European Girl’ is filled with sassily-delivered “She don’t need no chaperone’s throughout its suave late-night atmosphere.” There’s a bit of filler in the form of the relatively stagnant ‘Xmas In Japan’; but pretty much all of the other tracks are just great big fun dancefloor fillers.