I love City Mouse, me. They are, if you are unfamiliar, a 4 piece from Tampa, Florida. On this outing, ‘So Far Out’, their second full length (following on from Get Right, which came out via Little Rocket Records), the line-up features Miski Dee Rodriguez on vocals and guitar, Davey Quinn (Tiltwheel / Come Closer and a million other bands you love) on guitar, Alex Keane (The Murderburgers / Roach Squad) on drums and Jen Louie on bass.
In my opinion, the best thing about City Mouse is that although the standard fare elements of a punk rock band are there, they are also doing something a bit different. I think this, for me, mainly rests in two areas. Firstly, the vocal department. Miski’s vocal has a richness and depth to it that resonates in a similar way to that of Lisa Kekaula (The Bellrays); it edges into Soul territory whilst retaining a quality of grit and bite. It really is quite something. I feel like other people are gonna reference Sheer Mag here, but I’m not gonna do that because it’s entirely inaccurate and, well, what a 2010’s fart of a band they were…
Anyway, moving on to the second thing… Musically this seems to me to capture elements of power pop ala The Exploding Hearts, pop punk ala Teen Idols and the maudlin country tinged melodic punk rock of The Slow Death. It’s a heady brew indeed. Melodies and harmonies that’ll be stuck in your head for days with just the right level of sombre undertones to dispel any notions of fluffiness. Probably testament to the people involved, like, but there’s some really cool touches evidenced here, such as the whistled hook-line in Big Mood and the totally wild Gospel sounding gang vocal in Shine Your Light…
I would heartily recommend this album. It’s like a real breath of fresh air, mate. And a much needed one at that. There’s a lot about this that’s seen me going back for repeated listens, and I feel like this is going to be in fairly heavy rotation for a good while. Another one that I think may be tickling the old top ten of 2024, I reckon.
Tony of Nurgle rating: 10/10
Available in the UK / EU from Brassneck Records and the US from It’s Alive Records on either sunburst vinyl or ultra-clear with a red stripe (which imitates Miski’s face paint on the album sleeve).
