Fist City

Everything is a Mess (2015)

Keenan

If you take a cursory look at the band name and the song titles (including "Fuck Cops" and "Let's Rip"), you can probably make an educated guess as to what this album sounds like. Chugging riffs, breakdowns and maybe some gang vocals, right? Nope. Not at all. Fist City instead sounds like a more jangly and loose version of The Stranglers, complete with (light) synth notes and simple as a deadbolt choruses.

Alberta's Fist City have one foot planted in cacophonous, icy post-punk and another in the steadfast influence of The Wipers, with another (much smaller) foot dipping its toes in simplistic surf rock joy. Their songs start intensely, only letting up from time to time to settle on a groove led by the able-bodied rhythm section. Everything is a Mess offers 17 tracks in 37 minutes, venturing into epic (if not a bit bloated) exercises ("The Mess") as well as simple interludes and instrumental freakouts like "Surf's Up."

Fist City are at their best when fully utilizing singer/guitarist Kier Griffiths' unique vocals. Unfortunately, this is a rare occurrence on the album. The hooks on this record, for the most part, are phrases shouted in a mostly muted tone. This can work well (like on highlight "Hey Little Sister"), but it mostly feels like the band is stymieing Kier Griffiths' distinctive vocals (understandable, in a sense, as his voice is definitely not for everyone). However, when your songs mostly consist of garage-y post punk infused with standard, surfy guitar solos (seemingly ubiquitous in the past couple of years), it would make sense to highlight your main asset. Griffiths is rarely given a chance to push his voice to it's limits, despite the fact that doing so would greatly help the unhinged effect the band is going for at times. The intense vocal delivery during the verses on "Bad Trip" only attest to this.

Fist City find themselves in a crowded arena, as many bands are attempting the same sound as they are. It's so crowded that solid instrumentation and catchy choruses just aren't enough to separate from the pack in 2015. The band has the essential component to accomplish this, but they haven't used it to it's obvious potential on Everything is a Mess.