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Music

Listen to the First Song from Citizen's New Album, 'Everybody Is Going to Heaven'

Why be a sad boy when you can grow up, anyways?

Citizen is a band from Toledo, OH/Detroit, MI that plays a blend of bummer jams with in-your-face choruses. Their new song "Cement," from their forthcoming record Everybody Is Going to Heaven brings out the heavier, darker aspects of the band that haven't been seen since their EP Young States. But "Cement" manages to jump way beyond what they accomplished on that EP, or their debut record Youth, to show us how much more immense and comfortable Citizen has become. "Cement" opens with a killer bassline, and drops the song into an acidic verse that gives hints and suggestions of the band's past, but more importantly implies the capabilities of the band going forward.

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In the genre and space Citizen has found itself in, it's really easy to get cliché when looking at how fast they've grown up. The record's name isn't doing them any favors in staving off the lazy comparisons it might get to Brand New's development from Déjà Entendu to The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Instead, what Citizen has managed to do is bring in every influence whose hand could be felt in the ripples of their melody, every drip of melancholy or betrayal oozing from Mat Kerekes' voice, and every bit of catharsis found in their yells have amalgamated to show what the new Citizen sounds like. Why be a sad boy when you can grow up, anyways?

Stream the track below, and pre-order their new record Everybody Is Going to Heaven right here.