Review: Exit Decades by Cut City

A couple months ago, news got out that the, at the time untitled, new Interpol album had leaked. With eyes alight with excitment at the chance of hearing the work by everyone's favourite gloomy New York post-punk band, everyone flooded to their respective torrents sites. A torrent of the album Mastodon was waiting. Eagerly, people downloaded it, and were oddly surprised. Some thought it was indeed Interpol, but no, Mastodon was obviously a false leak. False leak or not, this album wasn't half bad. As it turns out, Exit Decades by the Swedish bad Cut City was said false leak. It's lovely little mistakes like these that can turn out to be amazing discoveries.
I heard about this false leak and I was interested in Cut City. I aquired Exit Decades, and immediately the reason for the confusion with Interpol was obvious. Every song has a nice layer of reverb. The guitars are spiky and fast and the bass plays driving and jumping riffs. Hell, even the singing and lyrics sound similar. But, Cut City manages to constantly keep my interest. All too often some Interpol songs sound all too similar, but Cut City manages to keep me utterly enamoured.
The 80's definitely shine through on these songs. You can see Cut City really going back to the roots of the post-punk movement on this album. Unlike other 80's-ish bands, none of these songs sound rehashy or tired. In fact, each song can be easily imagined on college radios now or even in the 80's.
Certain songs stand out, of course, one being "Just Pornography (For M.E.)". Shimmering reverb-drenched guitars and interesting drumming make this song a must hear. The best song on the album, for me, is "The Dull Miles (Exit Decades)". The sorta-title track is driven by an amazing bass riff, which just keeps plowing on. Everytime I hear I can't sit still. Then it all fades into this janky soundy synth with odd feedback. It is a perfect song, utterly perfect.
My only small problem with the album is that it never slows down, ever. Nearly every song just rockets along. There is not a peaceful song on the album. Furthermore, it seems they may have just used almost the same tempo throughout the whole album. These are just small problems though, and it will never stop a band that was, at first, mistaken for Interpol, and is now one of my favourite post-punk bands.
Rating: 4.5/5
Tracklisting: Exit Decades By Cut City
1. Like Ashes Like Millions
2. Manoeuvers
3. Numb Boys
4. Anticipation
5. Damaged
6. Such Verve
7. Rival Trial
8. Just Pornography (For M.E.)
9. The Dull Miles (Exit Decades)
-Lucas Thurston