★★★★½

City Calm Down burst onto the scene in 2012 with their EPMovements, making quite the impression before falling silent for almost three years.

Turns out the boys are perfectionists, and wrote over 60 songs before choosing the 11 they saw fit to release on an album. It’s certainly paid off.

In A Restless House is an album that should be listened to in full – if nothing else, the title of the opening track ‘Intro’ gives this away. The songs feed off one another, making it obvious just how much effort the Melburnians have put into this project. Singer Jack Bourke’s unmistakable baritone is the clincher, setting the album apart from being just another Australian indie rock record.

Producer Malcolm Beasley has done a great job in pushing the band to explore a more organic sound, with the addition of organs and horns creating a grandiose, full feel.

If you need more convincing to give this album a listen, do it for the raw emotion that Bourke’s voice conveys – it’s enough to make your sexual organs weep.

City Calm Down’sIn A Restless Houseis out now on I Oh You.

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