Cities Reviewed
Cities
Variations
(Yep Roc)
Yep Roc’s resident post punkers get remixed shortly after releasing their debut album.
Jacques Lu Cont’s version of The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside,” dubbed “Thin White Duke Remix,” slows the tempo and shrouds Brandon Flowers’ voice somewhat, as a Euro house beat surges underneath. It’s not the best analogy for what Daedelus, CacheFlow, and others have done to Cities’ self-titled album, yet somehow Josh Nowlan sounds more like Flowers than ever before. The anomaly is Fog’s shredding of “OOC” that drifts in and out of white noise, turning the track into a distant, struggling radio broadcast. Ladytron’s recasting of “Writing On The Wall” recalls The Church or Vitesse with its haunting reverb, while Mike Westbrook turns “A Theme” into an Oscar-night spectacle.
— Steve Forstneger
