I’ve been waiting for so awfully long.. that I saw the moon turn blue…
So goes the opening line of the closing track from When The Day Goes Dark (Plus One Records), the latest missive from Brisbane’s Mexico City.
And what a wait it’s been, coming six years after the band’s sophomore album, 2009’s epic Brown Bird (Plus One Records).
[bandcamp width=100% height=120 track=1177945160 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
In that time the lads have been busy starting families (three marriages and seven kids between them since 2009) and putting food on the table, while scratching around for time to record their third full-length record.
But good things come to those who wait, and When The Day Goes Dark delivers on the promise of the band’s previous releases in emphatic fashion.
Combining the sombre moodiness of their debut album, 2006’s Black Comedy (Reverberation), with the maturing songwriting of Brown Bird, When The Day Goes Dark sees Mexico City dig even deeper into the stories that surround them.
Whether it’s the bittersweet trawl through Brisbane’s west of ‘Rosewood Line’, the punch-in-the-guts storytelling of ‘Big Score’ and ‘Easy Grace’, or the suburban malaise of the title tune, the lyrics hit harder than ever before.
Musically, the record is somewhat of a quiet revolution with acoustic guitars and minimal drums at the core of a number of tracks. Violin and female backing vocals also make a couple of appearances.
But when the mood suits, Mexico City can still conjure up a racket.
Take lead single ‘Down At The Beach’ for example, which use a driving mutant surf guitar/roadhouse blues to retell the 2005 Cronulla riots; or ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’, which drops a feverish end-times vision over a tub-thumping garagey piano stomp.
Combining songs recorded by Jeff Lovejoy (Tex Perkins, The Cruel Sea) and Jamie Trevaskis (Robert Forster, Texas
Tea) between 2010 and 2014, When The Day Goes Dark reconfirms Mexico City’s status as one of Australia’s best-kept secrets.
But don’t take our word for it. Take a listen and discover for yourself.
The track, “Down At The Beach”, is from the group’s forthcoming third album; due for release in early 2016.
Mexico City fast facts
- Mexico City are Ben Carstens (drums), Simon Radich (guitar) and Adam Toole (vocals and guitar).
- Simon and Adam, who attended school together on the Gold Coast, formed the band in Brisbane in 2001.
- Mexico City took their name from the dockside bar in Albert Camus' The Fall.
- Their first drummer was Cec Condon, now with Sydney's Mess Hall.
- You Am I’s Rusty Hopkinson released the band’s first EP, Big Black Car (Illustrious Artists), in 2003 after hearing some of their earliest demos.
- Ben Carstens joined the band in 2004, a couple of months before the release of their second EP, Lost Gospel (Reverberation).
- Mexico City recorded their first album, Black Comedy, in Sydney. It was released by Rusty Hopkinson’s label, Reverberation, in 2006.
- The band’s second album, Brown Bird, was recorded up on Mt Nebo and was released by Brisbane’s Plus One Records in 2009.
- The band’s second album, Brown Bird, was recorded up on Mt Nebo and was released by Brisbane’s Plus One Records in 2009.
- The second track on the record, ‘Baby You've Changed’, was voted The Courier-Mail People’s Choice in the 2010 Q Music Awards.
- Another album track, ‘Damn Shame’, can be heard in 2014 movie The Drop, starring Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini. It also appeared in Australian movie Crawl.
- Mexico City's third album, When The Day Goes Dark, was recorded by Jeff Lovejoy (Tex Perkins, The Cruel Sea) and Jamie Trevaskis (Robert Forster, Texas Tea) across a handful of short sessions between 2010 and 2014.
- Matt Tanner, Mexico City’s bass player since 2008, left the band in 2015 following the completion of the new record.
- The three remaining members of Mexico City have had seven children between them since 2009.
- Over the years Mexico City have covered the likes of The Band, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Creedence, Dylan, Flamin’ Groovies, My Morning Jacket, The Stones, The Velvets and Neil Young.
- The band have supported international acts, including The Black Keys, Cat Power, Jason Molina, Lou Barlow, Jay Farrar, Tony Joe White and M Ward, as well as locals You Am I, The Drones, Tex Perkins, the Mess Hall and more.
