Heatmiser
Mic City Sons

THE REVIEW

Mic City Sons is the last album by Heatmiser released in '96 by Clementine Records.

For those who might not know, Heatmiser was the band of Elliott Smith and Neil Gust, before Smith embarked on his solo career (for those who love categories, the genre is between post-grunge and indie rock).

Truth be told, Elliott had already released Roman Candle, but he still decided to work on this final effort of the band.

If you've listened to the previous albums, you'll immediately realize that in this Mic City Sons, Smith's spirit becomes much more evident. There are 12 tracks in which he and Neil Gust alternate in the tracklist for composition and vocals.

The reason why the band broke up becomes obvious; the different attitudes of the two frontmen are evident, but at the same time, it is precisely this clash/meeting of souls that makes, in my opinion, Mic City Sons an interesting endeavor.

Some tracks showcase the diversity of sounds and songwriting, while others appear as pleasant compromises that give unity to the work, though it is certain that the sounds are generally less rugged compared to those of the previous Dead Air, Cop And Speeder, and Yellow No.5.

There are pieces that could also be found on a solo Elliott CD (the beautiful "Plainclothes Man", for instance, the intimate "You Gotta Move" and "The Fix Is In"), Gust's more aggressive ones ("Cruel Reminder"), other Smith ones where the roughness of the sound is more pronounced (the album opener "Get Lucky"), or distinctly indie rock ("See You Later" and "Pop In G").

A work that starts shouted and ends whispered this Mic City Sons (a bit like Elliott's musical life?), which I recommend to all those who have loved and love Smith with the acoustic guitar, here in a more rock version thanks to the electric guitar arrangements, but also to anyone who simply wants to spend a pleasant three-quarters of an hour.