There are egotistical frontmen and there are Civil Civic. Choosing to place a gigantic robotic light operator/drum machine named ‘The Box’ centre stage at their gigs, they’re a band with no qualms about leaving their sonic output to do the talking. Despite both members originating from Melbourne, they met via email by introduction of a mutual friend and now split their time equally between the two cities they each reside in London (Aaron Cupples) and Barcelona (Benjamin Green). The stage set-up and the overall framework of the band is peculiar, but the music the Aussie pair create is by no means strange; borrowing from a multitude of genres such as post-punk, prog and electronica, the various facets of the group combine perfectly to spawn instrumental sound waves with an incessant devotion to melody.

The setting for Friday night’s gig was a disused warehouse neighbouring the river Spree in East Berlin, with the added bonus of a DIY tattoo facility and pop-up art gallery in the vicinity, as well as the famous Berghain nightclub around the corner. The ambience matched the offbeat nature of the Aussie pair and the German revellers instantly acted as if they were in an all night rave. “We’ll keep talking to a minimum as we’ve got to be finished before midnight because of a party moving in here afterwards,” said Green. This show, you felt, was the beginning of an epic night for some.

Even the setlist was unconventional. Cupples and Green played a selection of tracks from their new LP, followed by a second half of compositions stemming from the debut album. I can’t recall a band other than Death From Above 1979 that make a louder noise than CC. They do indeed carry a number of similarities to DFA, with Green’s basslines in particular replicating Jesse Keeler’s earth shattering math rock reverberations. However, unlike their Canadian contemporaries, CC have two instruments (as well as the two sporadically used synths) that carry the load. This allows the pair to alternate and tussle for possession of the melody which gives greater freedom to the varying corners of the soundscapes.

It is a testament to the band that you never crave any vocals and even if they were thrown into the mix it would harm the dizzying feedback and rasping guitar melodies that make for CC’s core. The productions they create sound like a post-punk band in combat with a digital synthetic wizard and it somehow works perfectly.
Paul Hill

Website: civilcivic.com
Facebook: facebook.com/civilcivic
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/civilcivic