Electric Citizen: Sateen

The new Ohio doomsters get into the 60s psych groove.

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You can quickly see why this Ohio foursome have been compared to Blood Ceremony and Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats.

Not because they sound anything like these bands, but due to a strong philosophical connection to the West Coast psychedelic scene of the late 1960s. You can almost sniff Moby Grape or Pearls Before Swine, and there’s also a whiff of Blue Cheer. But like the best contemporary bands of this ilk, what Electric Citizen do is use these inspirations as a springboard to move into musical areas which have more to do with today’s approach than any efforts to bend in the nostalgic breeze. Opener Beggar’s Need even nods a little towards The Devil’s Blood, having a melodic shine as well as an underground riff. Magnetic Man might grace an album from Sir Lord Baltimore, as could Future Persuasion, while _Hawk Nightingale _has a doomy mystery that nods at early Hawkwind. Final track Ghost Of Me is a disciple of Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow album. Led by vocalist Laura Dolan, Electric Citizen have a real grasp on the era that has most inspired them. It makes Sateen a charismatic introduction. MD

Not because they sound anything like these bands, but due to a strong philosophical connection to the West Coast psychedelic scene of the late 1960s. You can almost sniff Moby Grape or Pearls Before Swine, and there’s also a whiff of Blue Cheer. But like the best contemporary bands of this ilk, what Electric Citizen do is use these inspirations as a springboard to move into musical areas which have more to do with today’s approach than any efforts to bend in the nostalgic breeze. Opener Beggar’s Need even nods a little towards The Devil’s Blood, having a melodic shine as well as an underground riff. Magnetic Man might grace an album from Sir Lord Baltimore, as could Future Persuasion, while Hawk Nightingale has a doomy mystery that nods at early Hawkwind. Final track Ghost Of Me is a disciple of Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow album. Led by vocalist Laura Dolan, Electric Citizen have a real grasp on the era that has most inspired them. It makes Sateen a charismatic introduction. MD

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Malcolm Dome
Malcolm Dome

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.