CIVIC

An origin story since time immemorial, the five piece came together in 2018 through the traps of the Melbourne music scene. Bonding over a shared love of tightly coiled riffs and a collective musical ethos, they channelled this into their first EP ‘New Vietnam’. In a head rush recording session, the 7 tracks were slammed out in a single day, with the underground hit going on to sell more than 1500 units worldwide. Making a name for themselves through the intensity of their live shows, their ‘New Vietnam’ launch would become one of those folklore moments within Melbourne. Taking to the stage with a contoured cheek and darkened eyes, McCullough's glamoured stage presence beamed and boomed over the sold out crowd. Cutting through the scene with cult-like vigour, their garnered momentum would lead them to a string of sold out 7 inches, a European tour, a spot on the beloved Golden Plains Festival, a new found home on the revered Flightless Records, and a fan in punk icon Henry Rollins, “I am digging that band… not one bad track in their recorded catalogue”.

With momentum in the tank, they took to various locations across Victoria to get the beds of Future Forecast down. From Richmond's historic Bakehouse Studios in all its grandeur, to a DIY run storage shed on High St, there’s consideration for the new and old on this album. Paying homage to the classics, but pivoting on them with avant-charged edge. It’s raw, searing guitars; pummelling rhythms; driving bass; with vocals that lock into and synergise with their wall of sound. Balanced by the raucous and restrained weaving of melodies and textures, the imbued sense of nostalgia, and the vocal variation which broadens their sound past any one genre label. There’s the horn fuelled drive of album opener Radiant Eye, the power pop ladden hook of As Seen On TV, the emotively atmospheric and vocally subdued ‘Sunday Best’, culminating with album closer ‘Come To Know’, before ending in a tightly wound splay of feedback and groove.

CIVIC have announced their debut album 'Future Forecast'. The album comes as a follow up to their sold out Radiant Eye 7", released through Flightless Records in late 2020. Following the recent release of album opener Radiant Eye, the band have shared their second single from the album, Tell The Papers. A lesson in rock and roll, the track explodes with thunderous energy. Doused in crackle and drive, every riff a visceral harness of power and propulsion, before snapping into a slide guitar driven hook that commands with brazen assurance.

The video, shot by Oscar O'Shea, boasts a new visual direction for the five piece. Taking a shift from their previous lo-fi videos (Radiant Eye and Call The Doctor), for a more conceptualised approach. "Jim and I wanted to do something that would capture the narrative of the song, whilst still remaining abstract and outside of that - aiming to create a video that was driven by visuals and feeling, rather than the narrative itself", O'shea says. "We took some simple shots that we felt would work well to the song, whilst at the same time, trying to create some sort of world and story line for it to exist in. CIVIC's sound is unique in that it is both catchy and playful, while remaining fast, hard hitting, and at times dark, especially on this album. That is what we tried to capture here visually, it's a new direction for the band and this speaks to that".

Australia's youngest ever undertaker, and a visual artist in his own right, vocalist Jim McCullough speaks of the idea behind the Future Forecast cover art: "The image can be read in many ways. Its ominous uncertainty and sense of apocalyptic aftermath is maybe a reflection on recent times and a glimpse into the future. It seemed fitting to have this as the face of the record, for me it gives off a sense of totalitarianism and a vastness. It’s like an iron curtain or something from space or maybe it's just a wall". Driving and tenacious, but never losing sight of a good hook and how to use it - CIVIC don’t tip-toe around the edges, but obliterate them with primal intensity. Finding a home somewhere between 80’s glam rock and Australia’s 70’s greats, they break the pieces of influence before crafting them into their own beast on debut LP 'Future Forecast'.