CIVIC: Future Forecast [Album Review]

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CIVIC
Future Forecast
Flightless Records [2021]

Melbourne and Flightless Records have been one of the main reasons psych music has risen above ground the last several years but don’t pigeon hole the label because they have some great other artists of their roster that are outside the genre. One of those is CIVIC, as their melody filled punk rock can reach out of yours speakers and punch you in the face. This visceral attack features crazy big 70’s like guitar riffs and a consistent snarl from the vocals of frontman Jim McCullough.

Right from the opening riffs on “Radiant Eye,” you can smell the gasoline in the air and the smoldering burnout of a muscle car peeling out on hot pavement. Future Forecast is exactly that sort of album where it transcends you to simpler times where maybe deciding on a tattoo and where to find your next drag is the important business of the day. If you checked out the band’s New Vietnam EP release in 2018 then you are familiar with CIVIC’s raw power but now take that same adrenaline and polish it up with a slicker production. That small tweak gives their debut a pop that kills it.

CIVIC truly are a bit of throwback to The Stooges or New York’s The Dictators with their plow ahead approach but the catchy melodies they wedge in-between the power chords is what makes them standout in today’s crowd. They are very much like a Social Distortion and The Godfathers with modern flare outs like METZ or Protomartyr. Future Forecast shines loud for multiple reasons but the most obvious one is that it will rock you out. The big guitar solos that happen in “Clone” and “Back To You” will have you turning your head while the sing along chorus on “Tell The Papers” will have you continually hitting replay. Future Forecast is exactly the right album to play to wake things up as every chord here swings for the fences and CIVIC hit a home run!

Key Tracks: “Radiant Eye” / “Tell The Papers” / “As Seen On TV”

Artists With Similar Fire: The Stooges / METZ / Social Distortion

CIVIC Website
Flightless Records

-Reviewed by Thomas Wilde

Thomas Wilde
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