Nothing But Thieves - Dead Club City
by Kevin Wierzbicki
This effort begins with the dance club banger "Welcome to the DCC" where fans will get to hear singer Conor Mason reach for the sky with occasional falsetto vocals; that portion of his vocals here may remind some of the great Freddie Mercury. "Overcome" finds the band toning it down considerably; the fast-paced pop rocker is certainly resonating with fans though as it has accrued more than four million global streams. Overcome indeed! This modern alt rock band from England is a five piece; besides Mason the group consists of guitarist Joe Langridge-Brown, guitarist and keys man Dominic Craik, bassist Philip Blake and drummer James Price and Craik plays sublime synth behind the moderately-paced "Keeping You Around," a love song that will no doubt endear countless love struck fans to the band. More falsetto vocals highlight the rhythmic "City Haunts," "Do You Love Me Yet" has a nice chorus to sing along to while listeners head to the dance floor, "Talking to Myself" finds Mason in an introspective mood as he croons over a seductive groove while "Pop the Balloon" finishes the 11-song
Dead Club City in a decidedly Queen vein: rocking, with cryptic lyrics, and a focus on Mason's falsetto vocals. The song also has a very quiet midsection that is swallowed up by a maelstrom of rock as it ends. The last words out of Mason's mouth on the album ender are quite appropriately "dead club city." Mason's voice carries
Dead Club City in its more subdued moments; roaring synth approaching an industrial sound is the attention getter otherwise. It's an imaginary place but fans will be queueing up like crazy to get into
Dead Club City.
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