Useless Cities – The ‘Stay’ EP – Somewhere Between Indie and Post-Rock.

Useless Cities – London, England, United Kingdom.

London based Useless Cities (theres a joke in there somewhere) are fresh on the UK Indie scene with their debut EP, Stay which was nothing like what I was expecting, that being another upbeat set of UK-styled Indie in a similar vein to a lot of what we have covered recently.

There is of course no problem in that, as UK Indie music is on something of a resurgence at least in the underground and grass roots scenes at the moment. Useless Cities surprised me however, so hats off to them.

Influences: ‘The National, Arcade Fire, The XX, Mogwai.‘

The above is the first of three for this release in it’s traverses enough stylistically to leave you wanting more, but similarly leaves you with a strong sense of satisfaction.

There are no real-worded vocals for quite some time but that’s not an issue, as the two-part harmonies you are left with are enough until the two-minute debut. Musically, you can already safely say that the keyboard’s presence is crucial in the soft and drawn out build ups and light Indie guitar-work.

‘Stay’ was the first I heard from the band and continues with the two-part vocals and rhythmic ensemble, that in character sound close to the build-ups and bridging bars of a Post-Rock release, with the subdued bass, jangling guitar tone and prominent keys.

The “plugged in” Alternative Rock approach you heard towards the end ‘To Be Ruined’ returns for ‘Follow’. The songs introduction is once again the slow and sombre accompanied with the haunting words ‘I’ll make you, I’ll break you, I’ll turn you, I’ll learn you‘.

A notable part of Useless Cities is that all four of the band’s members can be singled out and heard at any one time. This may seem like somewhat of a cop-out as descriptive statement but within ‘Follow’ specifically, it’s on the money.

Find the band and their music below:

• For updates, head to Facebook, Twitter and their Official Website.
• For streaming, find Useless Cities on SoundCloud, Spotify and Tidal.
• Stay can be found on iTunes.
• Hard copy CDs can be found at live gigs.

#StayFresh