Once upon a time, when the worst things I had to worry about were picking up after my dog and occasionally turning in a bit of homework, music seemed to mirror life’s simplicities with a glorious peak of well-polished nonchalance. It was a time of carefree noise and gross exuberance. It was the era of pop punk.
There’s no way around the fact that 2017 was a comparatively complicated and largely unpleasant year. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth to think of it, and people are finding themselves yearning for simpler times. Enter Charlottetown’s Little Cities and their debut video for their song ‘First Impressions.‘ Like The Beach Boys before them, they have returned us to the carefree days of a bygone era.
Drawing inspiration from the mainstays of the genre, Little Cities look to the likes of Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, Simple Plan and Sum 41, and gives us music that hits hard and fast. It’s a knock straight to the nostalgia gland.
Little Cities formed a little over a year ago, releasing their first single ‘Long Shot’ shortly after.
“We kind of hid in the basement and wrote for a while. When we announced the band, we dropped the single at the same time, which kind of gave us some momentum from the start,” says synth player Josh Pitre.
“It was definitely the kind of music we would play back in high school, so of course there’s the nostalgia piece. We’re all pretty huge fans of this style which makes songwriting so much fun. There are hints of dance and metal in there, too, if you look at our pedigree.”
“It’s cool seeing the somewhat resurgence of 2000s era music. We get a lot of comparisons to bands like Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, etc, etc. Having the two vocalists lends itself to the genre, too. [There are] so many great memories from those years, and honestly to go to a bar and see a band play music that reminds you of that is an awesome feeling.”
Pitre explains that ‘First Impressions’ is about finding your ‘ride or die’, and trying to keep the relationship a secret from close friends until you can escape your small-time life and start over.
The band say they are currently planning some dates in early March, but haven’t set anything in stone yet.
“We’ve been really trying to build a hometown following and are excited for the gig tonight. [We’re] reaching out to pals in Halifax and Fredericton, which are where we’d like to bring the show next!”