City of Ships - Live Free or Don't

optionthree

Better than the first two
Dec 23, 2008
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Calgary, AB
City of Ships – Live Free or Don’t
Force Field – FFR002 – 2008
By Neil Hauer

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Indie bands have been coming out of the woodwork for the last decade or so, and City of Ships are one of the newer bands to emerge from the genre. Given the sterility of the scene, my initial assumption was that they would prove to be nothing more than a cookie-cutter act, but thankfully, they’re pretty interesting in their own right.

All five tracks on Live Free or Don’t are dynamic and powerful, with enough hooks to capture the listener’s attention and hold it. They have a good interplay between moments of uptempo tension and slow release. One influence that comes to the fore is Russian Circles, particularly in the calmer, restrained passages. Production qualities are also high here, with ample space in the mix for each instrument. The songs as a whole can tend to blend together a little, but given that there’s only five of them, they hardly feel repetitive. Fans of the genre looking for something with a nice progressive edge should give this band a try.

Official City of Ships Website
Official City of Ships Myspace
Official Force Field Website