City 13
Better Late Than Never Again (City 13)
‘Better Late Than Never Again’ is the self produced, self financed and self released debut album from UK rock band City 13. Taking their style from bands such as Iron Maiden, Therapy and Metallica, they have produced a good, solid rock album, which in a genre where nonsense like Linkin Park and 30 Seconds to Mars exist, is particularly necessary. Opening track ‘Suffer For It’ takes the guitar sound straight from Iron Maiden, whereas second track ‘Summer Song’ is a lot lighter and sounds more like Ash and My Chemical Romance – a strange mix that they manage to pull of rather well. Unfortunately this song does contain some worrying vocal mannerisms with “go” with “unknown”, coming out as “go-woah” and “unkno-woah-n”. Luckily this doesn’t distract from a fine song. The lyrics appear very personal, with ‘To The Darkness’ including the line “Look into my eyes, can you see the fear in me” and ‘Walking For Miles’ containing “Whatever happened to the days we walked for miles, now you walk away from me”. ‘Worst Mistake’, with the chorus “I am my own worst mistake” sounds like ‘Everything Must Go’ era Manic Street Preachers. Final track ‘Better Late Than Never Again’, closes what is a good debut from an ‘old fashioned’ British rock band, with talented musicians and a collection of fine songs.
Bryan Jessiman
