Ten City Nation - Hidden Shallows Single Review

Hidden Shallows, the new single from Ten City Nation is being released as part of the R*E*P*E*A*T Records Love Music Hate Racism EP, a worthy initiative if ever there was one. The two songs on offer here may not be particularly ground breaking, but they certainly offer revved up rock energy in spades.

The A-side, a radio edit of Hidden Shallows is an energetic rock stomper with jarring guitar riffs and pounding drums. It works as a brilliant wakeup call but you feel it gets cut off far too early, with a fade out drawing things to a close just as an ethereal piece of guitar work floats in over the top of the erratic backing track. It sounds like an angrier version of Blue album era Weezer, which, I'm sure you will agree, is a huge compliment.

The B-side (The Air is On Fire) however, sets things right and allows itself to sprawl for upwards of six minutes, continually rising and dropping in terms of dynamics. You get the feeling that this thing would really kick off live with a slow, restrained verse and an absolute buzz-saw of a chorus kicking things up a gear.

Together, these songs demonstrate Ten City Nation's potential to grow into one of the best rock bands out there. For fans of Reuben and Dinosaur Pile-Up.

Ben Walton