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Spotlight On: THE CITY AND SKYWAY
Posted by Jordan A. Baker / April 20, 2008
THE CITY AND SKYWAY are an impressive five-piece midwestern rock band with influences from HUSKER DU, THE REPLACEMENTS, BIG DRILL CAR, and JAWBREAKER, among others. Think highly melodic vocalist with loud, buzzing guitars. The group released an EP in 2007 titled Compose Yourself on Slim Pickens Records. You can check out three songs from the release on their MySpace page.
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link to review:
http://www.pastepunk.com/news.php?nav=rss&rss_id=9660 - Jordan A.Baker / posted April 20th / pastepunk.com/ http://www.pastepunk.com
THE CITY AND SKYWAY Get 'Singled Out'
THE CITY AND SKYWAY give you a peak behind the curtain of the song "Killing Pill" from their latest LP Everything Looks Worse In Black And White over at Antimusic. Check it out here. http://www.antimusic.com/news/09/aug/10Singled_Out-_The_City_And_Skyway.shtml - Blacklodge Publicity
ecause of really cheesy (re: terrible) nu-Warped bands like Millionaires and Brokencyde, I long for the days of earnest Midwestern emo. Yes, I wrote the dreaded "E" word, but let's not get it twisted. Before it turned into the kind of ridiculous hyperbolic statement in the form of teenagers who listen to way too much My Chemical Romance, bands like Boy's Life, Christie Front Drive, Saetia, Ink And Dagger, and Texas Is The Reason owned up to this genre, often appearing on landmark comps like Deep Elm's Emo Diaries series or Crank's Don't forget to Breathe.
Oklahoma's The City And Skyway boast a lineup that has ties to The Promise Ring, Lifetime, Hey Mercedes, Limbeck, Maritime, and Dashboard Confessional, and they embody the fuzzy guitar and anthemic sound of real Midwestern indie rock.
Taking a cue from Braid and the earlier Hot Rod Circuit albums, singer Mitch Lyon's voice cuts through the exciting guitar lines in "I Thought I'd Never Lose My Mind" and "Soaked and Numb." "In November" is very much the epitome of '90s emo, with a chorus that is lifted from Sunny Day Real Estate –- not a bad thing, mind you.
Unlike bands who just rip off their influences, though, The City And Skyway write songs around their counterparts, but do so in such a way that they're able to flesh out their own sound. It's easy to say, "Oh I like Hot Rod Circuit; I like Mineral," but it's another thing to create something that, while steeped in homage, stands out on its own... but that's what The City And Skyway have done.
Everything Looks Worse In Black And White is one of the most exciting debuts I've heard in some time, and I eagerly anticipate what The City And Skyway have next on their collective plate. - redefine Magazine
THE CITY AND SKYWAY - Release of the Day at PastePunk
PastePunk has made THE CITY AND SKYWAY'S debut full-length, Everything Looks Worse In Black & White its release of the day. Click here to check it out and listen. http://www.pastepunk.com/site/release-of-the-day-the-city-and-skyway-everything-looks-worse-in-black-and-white/ - PastePunk
Everything Looks Worse in Black and White, the debut album from The City and Skyway, is a real album, one that isn’t overproduced, retouched or anything close. When you listen to this record you are getting TCAS in all their stripped down glory – pure emotion and passion, an idea that some bands have lost touch with. Vocalist Barry Johnston’s welcoming voice gives the record some subtly soft undertones, something that is prevalent throughout the disc. You should feel at home while listening. It’s Midwest indie done right.
The City and Skyway definitely possess a driving rock vibe with an indie tilt, reminiscent of what Bayside has made their living off for so many years. No, TCAS aren’t Bayside. That would be unfair to both parties. Mostly, Everything Looks Worse in Black and White is greatly effectual (listen to “Killing Pill”) as it effectively sways (“Doctor, We Need Healing”) and thoughtfully crushes (“From My Hospital Bed”), leading itself to emotionally charged crashes of sound (“1111 East Main”).
The bleeding heart tendencies of Everything Looks Worse in Black and White sell its pure everyman vibe. It is an album that can be catastrophically gut-wrenching when it wants to be. With such a massive body of work as this record in their arsenal, it’s hard to imagine this band being unsigned, and easy to imagine that they won’t be for long. - Innocent Words Magazine & Records
The City and the Skyway
Compose Yourself EP
Self-released
Grade: B/B+
Featuring Barry Johnston, Eric Wilke, and Mitch Lyon, the City and the Skyway offer up five indie melodic punk songs for your listening pleasure. Sounding like a cross between your favorite local indie punk band and bigger name acts that circulated on Jade Tree Records – which makes some sense given CS pedigree – Compose Yourself hints at possible exceptional future for an inspired band. The feeling you walk away with is completely drenched in 90s college radio goo.
- Exoduster.com
Track after track delivers jet-skiing guitars and frenzied rock rhythms like “Waiting” and “Warning Signs,” changing the cuts of the shingles and rippling effects while banistered by Lyon’s heated vocals. The melodic rock sequences and acoustic guitar strokes sauntering along “Monday” produce an even flow and ebb movement that bodes well with Lyon’s melodic keyed vocals. The soft rock transfusions bolted into “Throwing Stars” build up to a massive flourish and then shatter spontaneously into shards of splinters that scatter bits soaring through the air on the exit of the tune. The bucking pop punk thrusts rushing through “Requests for Heaven” charge forward without pausing for a moment to hold back. The trio sneak in a bonus track, a soft acoustic rock tune entitled “Cities and Seas,” which shows beautifully lined harmonies and creative skills which transcend modern rock conditions. It’s deceptively simple and very pleasing on the senses.
- AbsolutePunk.net
Discography
Compose Yourself EP - May 1, 2008
"Waiting" played on radio stations in Milwaukee, WI and Oklahoma.
The City and Skyway's Newest Jun 2009 Release "Everything Looks Worse in Black and White," has been played throughout many colleges in the United States and into Canada.
Soaked and Numb
The Addict
1111 East Main
and Killing Pill seem to be among the favorites.
Photos
Bio
Scientists would have a tough time genetically engineering a band more seemingly destined for popularity than THE CITY AND SKYWAY. The members of the Enid, OK, rock band’s former lineups include members of a veritable who's who of seminal ’00s rock, including DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL, THE PROMISE RING, LIFETIME, HEY MERCEDES, LIMBECK and MARITIME, among others.
While some bands might be content to rely on good, old-fashioned nepotism to work their way to the top, THE CITY AND SKYWAY are determined to err on the side of overachievement. So it was that, less than a year after releasing their first EP (Compose Yourself, 2008), the Midwestern quintet headed back into the studio to record their debut full-length, Everything Looks Worse In Black & White, a punch-drunk ode to musical forefathers as varied as GUIDED BY VOICES, NIRVANA, THE SMITHS, DAG NASTY and THE REPLACEMENTS, whose song “Skyway” was swiped for the band’s name.
“It’s real. It’s not dressed up to be something its not. It’s imperfect. It’s in your face,” says guitarist and founding member Barry Johnston of Everything Looks Worse In Black & White. The album is equal parts brains, beauty and brawn, its dizzying melodic gloss propped up with muscular riffage and smart and imaginative song structures. Throughout the album, THE CITY AND SKYWAY eschew traditional verse-chorus modes, standard tunings and time signatures in favor of something more challenging to the listener, something with more staying power. Singer Mitch Lyon’s caramel vocal hooks strike the listener immediately, but the sonic puzzles underneath make Everything Looks Worse In Black & White as much fun for the brain as the ear.
“We were looking to push the envelope with this one,” Johnston explains. “We wanted to keep our melodic sense intact. We didn’t want to lose or alienate the fans of the Compose Yourself EP, which was pretty pop-friendly and palatable. But we wanted to take that pop aspect of what we do, turn it inside out, turn it on its ear and take chances.”
On the strength of their debut, THE CITY AND SKYWAY were able to legitimize the buzz a band naturally inherits when its resume reads like a who’s-who of college radio giants. Through elbow grease, hustle and an impressive pop acumen, the band transcended the superficial hype and cultivated an honest and hungry fan base by pummeling the Midwestern club circuit. Now, with the release of Everything Looks Worse In Black & White around the corner, THE CITY AND SKYWAY are ready to blow the doors wide open. “It’s been really amazing so far,” Johnston says of the fans’ support thus far. “There’s a feeling of real organic goodness in the air.”
The band got its start in the winter of 2006, when Johnson and Lyon started experimenting with what would eventually become the first THE CITY AND SKYWAY songs. By that point, in addition to serving in numerous bands of their own, Johnston had years of experience as an engineer on the road for bands like ALKALINE TRIO, BAD RELIGION, ANTHRAX and many more. During that time, he and Lyon learned exactly what to do in order to be a successful working band – and, just as importantly, what not to do. “In a time when it seems that more and more bands and artists are concerned with cranking out singles, we’re more interested in making and writing records. It’s an art form that we’re not ready to give up on,” Johnston says. “The thing that you learn over the years is that you have to surround yourself with guys that push you. If you’re not around the caliber of players or people that make you dig down deep, then you’re never gonna get anywhere.”
Armed with that knowledge, armed with a wild pedigree and a prizefighter of an album, THE CITY AND SKYWAY have their eyes on the horizon. This isn’t about cashing in on the past. This is about blowing the future wide open.
“We wrap ourselves in it. We live inside it,” says Johnston of the band's prospects. “No excuses. No settling. We’re just going for it.”
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