Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
Throwdown Motel EP 2005
Waterline Remixed 2004
Waterline EP 2003
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
In time out of mind, Rock n' Roll was a force to be reckoned with. It was dangerous. It made your mom nervous. Now, dripping from the clogged sinus of North American culture, we've got the defanged and narcotized TV-ready pabulum. You know: the floss-toothed grin of the mall-punks, the saccharine overdose of teen pop. The next thing you know, Madonna's going to latch on to some eastern mysticism and change her name to Esther.
Oh. Wait.
Enter Citizen A. Emerging from the suburban sprawl of London Ontario, these lads are bringing the noise in a way you haven't heard in a long while. In the balmy summer of 2001, a rather informal jam session evolved into something much more cohesive, much more salient. Taking their cue from the giants of early 90s rock (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), Citizen A's motive is pure: create a wall of sound to prove that yes, indeed, this rock n' roll business can still make us all feel something. Music can still make you glad to be alive.
Instead, you can sneak between the resonating walls of clubs scattered throughout the formerly-sleepy towns of Southwestern Ontario. Citizen A's been seen (and more importantly heard) lurking in a good number of them as of late. You might have seen them with The Trews, Holly McNarland or Magneta Lane. Or, you might have read about their nominations for the London Music Awards or The Jack Richardson Award.
If you couldn't make it to the shows, you missed out on Steve Docherty's powerful vocals and effortless frontman persona. Shane Draper's guitar playing is inventive and unique; amid the overdriven warmth and decorative squeaks and squonks, you may get the idea that these are some power chords that could change the course of mighty rivers. Shane and Steve's melodic mayhem is moored to the bedrock foundation that is the fattening thunderhead rumble of Jeff Wakem's drums.
And no, these assertions aren't based on thin air. For proof of their accuracy, check out the soaring melodies of "What I Am". Get scorched by the blistering pace of "Wake Up". Become startled by the poignancy of "Three Walls". An album is on the way - for now, head over to www.citizen-a.com for some guilt-free downloads. Turn it up loud. Don't feel bad if you break a sweat.
-Brian Bork
Links
