Raccoon City Police Department - Nightlife LP

Tracklist:

1. Lungs

2. Life Is Lost

3. WitchHouse

4. Passage

5. Slum Lord

6. Starting To See

7. Twelve

For some (really lame) reason and with the exception of the incredible debut LP from Totem Skin and a Ruined Families 7", I've never written about releases from Dog Knights Productions on the blog. I wrote some reviews of stuff in the first half of 2013 for Collective Zine, but haven't written anything since. I've been to preoccupied with keeping up with the label's huge and ever growing discography. This is me trying to make amends. This LP was the first of a duo of releases (alongside the Crowns & Thieves LP that I'll be writing about soon) that DKP have released this year. Raccoon City Police Department are an post-hardcore/screamo band from Adelaide, Australia and Nightlife is their new full-length. It was released as a collaborative effort by DKP and Spit The Dummy Records.

RCPD play the sort of post-hardcore that is synonymous with DKP and they’ve got an air of At The Drive-In about them. Clean/jangly guitar riffs, subtle drumming and coarse vox. LP opener Lungs is an emotive precursor to Nightlife and meant to rouse. The guitar that kicks off Life Is Lost immediately sends shivers down my spine with it’s clarity and melody. The production helps to bring it to life. It’s stop/start in places, but has surprising rock swagger too. You could draw some comparisons to a certain American screamo band here, but I’m not going to because there’s more than enough individuality in WitchHouse for it to hold it’s own. The lowly instrumentation the accompanies the contrasting harsh/semi-clean vocals during the verses, takes it down a more experimental path and RCPD breathe life into the whole post-hardcore blueprint with the use of heartfelt originality. As the end of WitchHouse plays out with white-noise and a haunting sample, your lead into Passage and it’s beat filled intro. I don’t know why, but the delivery of the verse reminds me of The Beastie Boys. That aside, the song is very focused and even slightly harrowing. More familiar paths are trodden again with Slum Lord. I’m struck on how arty RCPD are without being to obtuse or cliched. They sing of the angst related with growing out of your teenage years and into your earlier twenties on Starting To See. I’m pretty sure every person feels this in their life. Set to this musical backdrop, it feels all the more real. Nightlife’s closer Twelve is a poignant ending. There’s an undercurrent of menace and malice within the chords and structures. The way the vocals get faster along with the music builds the song into one last tome that should be sung from the rooftops and screamed from the bottom of your stomach. That sums up what Raccoon City Police Department and Nightlife does to you. All we ask for is heartfelt and passionate music with a delivery to match. We’ve found it!

You can stream and download (name-your-price) Nightlife in full here:-

UK/Europe orders for the LP can be made via Dog Knights Productions here - http://dogknightsproductions.bigcartel.com/product/dk069-raccoon-city-police-department-nightlife

Australian orders can be placed via Spit The Dummy Records here - http://spitthedummyrecords.bigcartel.com/

You can also get copies from distress in the US and other place. Check DKP's Facebook page below for more info.

Raccoon City Police Department Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RaccoonCityPD
Dog Knights Productions Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dogknights
Spit The Dummy Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wearespitthedummy