From the consistently thriving punk scene of Melbourne came Civic, a snarling five-piece in the tradition of the Saints and Radio Birdman with heaps of energy and an unfussy pub rock backbone. With plenty of downstroked guitar, big-attitude vocals, no-frills melodies, and a hard-charging rhythm section, Civic deliver primal rock & roll in classic style, and they quickly gained an international following for their supercharged action. The group built their name on a well-received trio of EPs in the late 2010s before delivering Future Forecast, their full-length debut, in 2021. For their second LP, 2023's Taken by Force, they recruited a key inspiration and kindred spirit to produce, Radio Birdman vocalist Rob Younger.
Civic was formed in 2017 by lead singer Jim McCullough and guitarist Darcy Grigg when McCullough was vacationing in Japan and he bumped into Grigg, a fellow veteran of the Melbourne punk scene, at a bowling alley. They agreed that the Australian scene needed more rock & roll bands in the tradition of Radio Birdman, the Saints, and the Celibate Rifles. After returning home to Melbourne, they recruited guitarist Lewis Hodgson, bassist Roland Hlavka, and drummer David Forcier, and set up at McCullough's practice space, located in a warehouse-turned-arts center. They quickly put together a few songs and played their first show as Diamond Dust before Hodgson came up with the name Civic. Bashing together '70s punk, pub rock, and power pop, the band soon had enough originals to cut an EP. Recorded and released by Billy Gardener on his Anti-Fade label, 2018's seven-song New Vietnam EP earned Civic plenty of early praise, and they followed it up later that year with another EP, the four-track Those Who No.
The 2020 single "Radiant Eye" b/w "Making Time" was Civic's first release for the Flightless label, founded by Eric Moore of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Flightless put out their first full-length effort, Future Forecast, in March 2021, and it was picked up for release in North America and the U.K. by ATO Records. After its release, Darcy Grigg dropped out of Civic, and Jackson Harry (who had played on the Future Forecast sessions) came on board as guitarist. The band also had problems with drummer David Forcier, who was living in Canada and stranded at home when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a variety of travel bans, and Matt Blach took his place for live work. Blach also appeared on the sessions for their second LP, 2023's Taken by Force; Rob Younger of Radio Birdman produced the album, and engineer Mikey Young, who'd previously worked with Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Sonny & the Sunsets, mixed and mastered.
Biography by Mark Deming for ALLMUSIC
There's another band in Japan with the same name:
2) Yasuhiro Hachisuka, who was a student at that time and loved GALAXIE500,THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN so much, formed the band with Mari Miyata, Kodai Terakawa and his younger sister Tomoko on 2004. Songs written by Hachisuka during a decadent period in his bedroom have changed by playing as the band which consists of a rhythm section by Miyata and Tomoko and a lead guitar by Terakawa. Though almost all of them are the beginners at playing instruments, the Civic sound was slowly formed. Once Terakawa left the band for his buddhism training, but he soon got back to the band.
The inarticulate and lazy vocal by Hachisuka, noise guitars, high-toned vocal and unskillful bass playing by Miyata, the colorful guitar by Terakawa and dreary standing drum playing by Tomoko are not so skillful actually, but their sounds is standing on the fragile balance and quite unique. Sometimes people amongst the indie pop and shoegazer scenes call their sound “miracle”.
Simple rhythm, simple chord progression and catchy melodies with the band’s melancholic and innocent mood are making civic popular underground.
http://civicmusicband.jp/
Civic was formed in 2017 by lead singer Jim McCullough and guitarist Darcy Grigg when McCullough was vacationing in Japan and he bumped into Grigg, a fellow veteran of the Melbourne punk scene, at a bowling alley. They agreed that the Australian scene needed more rock & roll bands in the tradition of Radio Birdman, the Saints, and the Celibate Rifles. After returning home to Melbourne, they recruited guitarist Lewis Hodgson, bassist Roland Hlavka, and drummer David Forcier, and set up at McCullough's practice space, located in a warehouse-turned-arts center. They quickly put together a few songs and played their first show as Diamond Dust before Hodgson came up with the name Civic. Bashing together '70s punk, pub rock, and power pop, the band soon had enough originals to cut an EP. Recorded and released by Billy Gardener on his Anti-Fade label, 2018's seven-song New Vietnam EP earned Civic plenty of early praise, and they followed it up later that year with another EP, the four-track Those Who No.
The 2020 single "Radiant Eye" b/w "Making Time" was Civic's first release for the Flightless label, founded by Eric Moore of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. Flightless put out their first full-length effort, Future Forecast, in March 2021, and it was picked up for release in North America and the U.K. by ATO Records. After its release, Darcy Grigg dropped out of Civic, and Jackson Harry (who had played on the Future Forecast sessions) came on board as guitarist. The band also had problems with drummer David Forcier, who was living in Canada and stranded at home when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a variety of travel bans, and Matt Blach took his place for live work. Blach also appeared on the sessions for their second LP, 2023's Taken by Force; Rob Younger of Radio Birdman produced the album, and engineer Mikey Young, who'd previously worked with Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Sonny & the Sunsets, mixed and mastered.
Biography by Mark Deming for ALLMUSIC
There's another band in Japan with the same name:
2) Yasuhiro Hachisuka, who was a student at that time and loved GALAXIE500,THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN so much, formed the band with Mari Miyata, Kodai Terakawa and his younger sister Tomoko on 2004. Songs written by Hachisuka during a decadent period in his bedroom have changed by playing as the band which consists of a rhythm section by Miyata and Tomoko and a lead guitar by Terakawa. Though almost all of them are the beginners at playing instruments, the Civic sound was slowly formed. Once Terakawa left the band for his buddhism training, but he soon got back to the band.
The inarticulate and lazy vocal by Hachisuka, noise guitars, high-toned vocal and unskillful bass playing by Miyata, the colorful guitar by Terakawa and dreary standing drum playing by Tomoko are not so skillful actually, but their sounds is standing on the fragile balance and quite unique. Sometimes people amongst the indie pop and shoegazer scenes call their sound “miracle”.
Simple rhythm, simple chord progression and catchy melodies with the band’s melancholic and innocent mood are making civic popular underground.
http://civicmusicband.jp/