City Guys – Self Titled

Unfortunately there wasn’t a featured song this week on Wednesday, due to so much stuff going on. However, this won’t be happening with the album review, as there always seems to be some sweet chiptune every week.

This weeks review is looking at the self titled debut album from City Guys, released by ‘Off Me Nut’ records, a label based in Sheffield. Before discovering ‘OMN’, I only knew about the northwestern chiptune scene in Liverpool & Manchester. However after listening to some of their catalogue (with city guys being the ‘117th’ release), it really showed me how many hidden gems in the underground music scene there are.
The same goes for City Guys, who have released such a stellar album and creating the music around the sound of Sega Megadrive.

You can really hear the iconic sound in the opening track, ‘Jetski’, through its punchy rhythm of melodic hooks. There are several different things that you’ll love, from the dreamy arp that’s featured during the beginning & middle, to the fast and energetic leads that’ll put you into overdrive.

Whilst City guys rely on the iconic sound of the Sega Mega Drive, it also feels as if they were heavily inspired by certain management games such as Sim City & Theme Hospital. This & the fact that the majority of the titles are derived from the city.

The inspiration from these titles becomes even more apparent in the 3rd track, ‘Back Streets’ which uses a lot of jazzy hooks, under a seriously funky groove. Just listening to Back Streets right now makes want to get into making music on the Mega Drive!
Even though overall theme feels like the vibes of city life, City Guys really take each track and make it into something extremely unique, and that’s saying something for a 14 track album! This definitely shows on the final track, ‘Crime Fighter’, which comes in with one heavy, distorted drive. It doesn’t stop there either, with Crime Fighter ending on a brilliant solo lead!
City Guys really manage to knock the ball out of the park with this self titled album, and really show what the sound of the sega megadrive, instead of sticking with the tried & tested gameboy. If you’re fan of either JREDD, or Circuit Bird, you’ll definitely love City Guys!

 ~ City Guys ~ 

 Bandcamp | Off Me Nut Records | Off Me Nut Facebook


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