As You Please＜White & Red Splatter Vinyl＞

The evolution of Citizen continues as the Midwestern indie rockers explore new themes and tones on album number three. With 2015's Everybody Is Going to Heaven, Citizen made a significant move away from the more hardcore/emo-oriented style of their younger days, homing in on a tightly focused, deeply intense sound that paired post-rock dissonance with occasionally melodic punk. On As You Please, the quintet -- whose members are split between Detroit and Toledo -- combines some of the cathartic elements of its debut with the brooding complexity of Heaven, while introducing subtle pop undertones to the mix. Shepherded once again by longtime producer Will Yip (Title Fight, Circa Survive), Citizen hit an early high with "In the Middle of It All," a thickly textured dark groove with a surprisingly airy dream pop choral refrain. Much of what follows pairs mood and muscle with songs veering from sinister to lonely as massive drum breaks and angular guitars attack, then retreat. Warm synth tones occasionally arrive like rays of sun only to disappear quickly, like on "Ugly Luck." As players and arrangers, Citizen do a nice job with this push and pull, building small inviting-but-chaotic worlds around their introspective songs and letting listeners in, only to cast them back out with a metallic barrage. As You Please can sometimes come across as overly dour, but Citizen are masters of uneasiness and wield that power like a sword. ~ Timothy Monger