About a year ago, I picked up an album that would later become one of my favorites of all time; Brand New’s 2001 release Your Favorite Weapon. The album was a breath of fresh air in a time where NSYNC was popular and Shaggy was a thing. Songs like “Jude Law and a Semester Abroad,” “Sudden Death in Carolina,” and “Mixtape” are just a couple of songs that I play on loop from that album. To this day, I will still listen to the album in its entirety, and then have to listen to the rest of their library.
But sometimes you have to put and album down and move on. However, after listening to Sister City’s Carbon Footprint, it gave me the same feeling. If someone handed me this album, and never told me who or what it was, my first guess is that this is the Lost Tapes of Brand New’s Weapon. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing at all. In fact, that is one of the highest compliments I can give to a rock band.
Sister City, made up of singer Adam Linder and drummer Daniel Abzug, tricks you a bit. After a couple of listens to their most recent album Carbon Footprint, I tend to forget that this is a duo. Adam Linder’s voice is what you’d get if you were to combine the tone of Jesse Lacey (Brand New), the lyrics of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) and Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra), and the fun of Max Bemis (Say Anything). Each song is something fresh and inventive, especially in a day that punk, nay, rock, is put on the afterburners. I must say though, I’d rather listen to their new album any day.
Carbon Footprint is an album that I’ve been looking for in so many bands, but have found only a couple of time. The album ranges from rather serious topics including Identity and death, but still puts it out in the format of fun rock songs. “Eff That” features Bemis style storytelling including one of an army recruiter and a freestyle rapper that makes the track incredibly enjoyable. “IMPERATIVE” is a call to happiness, asking for things like love and trust and sanity, in a mid-tempo song which could fit easily into a Manchester Orchestra album. My personal favorite, “Ellis Island Blues” is a punky end-of-your-life song, with lyrics like “Don’t tell me that my just desserts are waiting when I die /cause banking on eternity is no way to live your life.” I know I’m missing ¾ of this album, but trust me when I say that the entire album is worth multiple listenings to.
If I had to nit-pick about anything on this album, it would be that some songs kind of run into each other, which gives me the impression of just one long, yet still great song, instead of two.
This is what I predict from Sister City: their fan base will grow exponentially, they will tour with some great artists (maybe Middle Class Rut, or Maryland’s own All Time Low?), and will be featured in Alternative Press, either in the AP&R section (they are currently unsigned) or hopefully, the 100 Artists You Should Know in 2012. I am a firm believer that Sister City will break out, and I can’t wait to utter the phrase “I knew them when.”
Final Grade: A-
Middle of the Row 