Winter Song

Aberdeen City - The Freezing Atlantic

Aberdeen City is a four piece alt-rock outfit that formed in 2001 while the members were students at Boston College. After spending four years living together, self-releasing EPs, and refining their post-punk influenced sound, they went into the studio in the winter of 2005 to record their first full length album, The Freezing Atlantic. Originally released last October, it was re-released in August with two reworked tracks on Columbia's Red Ink imprint. If you're the kind of person who likes to hear the evolution of songs, you can compare the 2005 and 2006 versions of "God Is Going To Get Sick Of Me." The newer version features a different key and beefed up production.

I think I listened to this CD just about every day for the first two weeks I owned it, and it has stayed in regular rotation ever since. My first impression was that they sounded a bit like Interpol minus the obvious Joy Divison influence. Or The Killers with a more sparse sound. Or a less grandiose Remy Zero. One of my friends thought they sounded like War-era U2; an oddly prescient comment, since War producer Steve Lillywhite did two tracks on this album. It's the kind of record that rewards repeated listening. The angular guitar riffs seem to reveal themselves a little bit more everytime you hear a song, and the lyrics hint at spirituality without ever being overtly religious. With cooler weather finally upon us, this CD is the perfect soundtrack for a fall afternoon drive.

Aberdeen City - "Sixty Lives" (mp3)
Aberdeen City - "In Combat" (mp3)

They play in Nashville at the Exit/In on Monday, October 2, with The Electric Six and The Blue Van. If you judge a band's live show by the company they keep, these guys must be pretty good. They've spent the better part of the last year touring with Elefant, Sound Team, We Are Scientists, Snow Patrol, Murder By Death, and Rasputina.

post title by Nico