Talking City 1994 are one of those outfits that is constantly releasing new music, uploading new songs to SoundCloud at a very fast clip and forcing anyone interested in them to always be on their toes. It can oftentimes feel like they are just spitting songs out into the online void, without much cohesion. Plenty of good moments, but they can be a band that’s easy to skim by.
Which makes Our Country so surprising – this is presumably an EP created from some tracks they posted online over the last few weeks, yet taking in this four-song set at once reveals Our Country to be a unified and exciting release from the Osaka band. Talking City 1994 have been a slippery outfit from the get-go, when they didn’t believe in the space key, as the last time they felt this connected was on their weeble-wobble debut I Can Feel Your Soul. They’ve changed drastically here, though – Our Country is sparse, slow and dusty. It opens with the trudging doo-wop (featuring harp notes, whoa!) of “Frost Heaving,” which showcases one of the most winning changes the band has embraced – their vocals no long sound spastic, but slower and more Spencer Krug-like (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Moonface). They also seem more romantic here – “The Course Of Love” is a sweet, intimate number while “Two Of Us” actually channels Bill Withers “Just The Two Of Us” but with a Talking City 1994 twist. Our Country is a wonderful left turn from this group, and a reminder of how much potential they have. Listen below.