When the Lights go Down in the Citay

There's a danger in judging someone by track record alone. Resumes, a drawer of receipts, and ex's can tell you where one's been, but they aren't so good at indicating the future. The future is...well...the future. Directions change, life puts up hurdles, and then you sprint. No telling where you might end up.

So is the case with Citay. The resume says ex-members of Piano Magic, The Fucking Champs, and Nation of Ulysses. That's a history of spacey, sterile London space-rock, 70s/80s metal, and political post-punk, respectively. One member has production credits for albums by Sleater-Kinney, Comets On Fire, The Melvins, The Donnas, Bikini Kill, Trans Am, etc. But Ezra Feinberg, Tim Green, and Tim Soete sound nothing like their past.

Centered in San Francisco, this three piece makes post-minimalist guitar folk-rock that sits in the middle of a strange bedfellow of genres: soft rock, hippie folk, blues, and glam. Sounds are made with heaps of mandolin, glockenspiel, sitar, Casios, choral effects, 12-string guitars and a variety of percussion toys and noisemakers. The end result is full of melody and texture psych-pop - full of everything you've heard before, but interestingly unlike any of it. Like the foggy acoustic interludes on Zepplin and early Yes albums, but with vibraphones, Boston solos, and Beach Boys worthy harmonies. Pretty far removed from their cold London and Dischord past.

Citay at MySpace

Purchase their recently released self-titled debut directly from Important Records.

Citay - Nice Cuffs.mp3
Citay - Shalom of Safed.mp3
Citay - Seasons Don't Fear the Year.mp3