CITY OF INDUSTRY - Spiritual West

CITY OF INDUSTRY: Seattle hardcore outsiders announce new album "Spiritual West"; new music video streaming now

City of Industry announces the November 11th release of its new album, Spiritual West, on No Funeral Records and Modern Grievance.

Stream the official music video for Spiritual West's first single, "Chalk This Up to Assault," here: https://noecho.net/features/city-of-industry-spiritual-west

Pre-order the album, here (vinyl): https://store.nofuneral.ca/product/city-of-industry-spiritual-west-vinyl

Pre-order the album, here (CD, cassette, digital): https://cityofindustry.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-west

Seattle trio City of Industry made its first indelible mark with False Flowers, released in 2020. That album's official press release read: "With False Flowers, Seattle, Washington's City of Industry reveals itself to be one of the most compelling new hardcore bands of today. While many contemporaries in the scene are obedient dogs whose motivation is to follow the latest trends, City of Industry frontman and songwriter John Caraveo is an outsider, operating from a place of pure passion."

Stereogum's review of False Flowers noted the band's unique style: "City of Industry’s sound is a wracked, intense take on metallic hardcore... But they’re not fundamentalists, and they also take inspiration from a few generations of scuzzy noise-rock." Decibel Magazine described it as "hyper-melodic squatter anthems as distressed as Dystopia."

Two years down the road, Caraveo's outsider status has only intensified and his passion burns hotter. Armed with two more years' worth of pain, Caraveo continues moshing to his own beat, a truly original soul seeking his own answers and making music that no one else could. "I am not completely like other people," states the sampled voice at the start of "Chalk This Up to Assault," Spiritual West's opening track. "People dislike me because I am not completely like them."

"Spiritual West is, musically and lyrically, the most honest, raw, and poignant piece of work I've ever done," Caraveo states. "In the past two years I've experienced the death of some people very close to me. I am facing the fact that every single relationship we have will undoubtedly come to an end, in one way or another. I am facing my own imminent death. I am realizing how small and insignificant I am, and every other person who has lived or will live."

Caraveo says these existential reckonings are guiding him toward a more liberated state where he is unconcerned with people's judgments: "I don't want to fit in or seek the 'scene's' approval in any way. I want to be myself, all the time, one hundred percent. Unapologetic aggression. Knowing I can be myself and be honest and sleep well at night."

On Spiritual West, Caraveo's impassioned vocals hit like the confessions of a man who has reached his breaking point; the band's moody, metallic, hardcore punk drives forward, laced with morose melodies, drenched in Pacific Northwest rain. The sheer urgency sets this band apart from the mob. There are not many comparisons to be drawn; Converge or Show Me The Body might be two.

As raw and real as City of Industry can be, there is another side to the band. Throughout Spiritual West, the trio's musical experimentation creates moments of grandeur that elevate the album to an even higher place. Triumphant church bells, gleeful glockenspiel, ominous synths, and sampled voices add color and contrast that make the songs penetrate that much deeper and show, once again, that Caraveo and his comrades – bassist Jack Thompson and drummer Pablo Lara – are following no one else's rules.

Spiritual West was recorded by Nich Wilbur (Mt. Eerie, Sumac) and mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Gouge Away). 

A West Coast tour with Ultra Love begins in November.

Tracklist:

1) Chalk This Up to Assault
2) Commoners Garden
3) Ships of Mercy
4) Perrequier
5) Spiritual West
6) Death Sickness
7) Dissociation
8) Despite Loving Efforts
9) Everybody's Cross These Days, Darling
10) Raindrops
11) He Condescends to Glide
12) In Cloud and Majesty and Awe

Lineup:
John Caraveo - vocals, guitar, synth, percussion
Jack Thompson - bass, backing vocals
Pablo Lara - drums, percussion

Guests:
Jakob Keizer - vocals on "Chalk This Up to Assault"
Wesley Sisk - vocals on "Ships of Mercy" and "Chalk This Up to Assault" 

Frank G West - vocals on "Death Sickness"

Mat Houot - vocals on "Despite Loving Efforts"

Discography:
City of Industry EP (2017, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
American Habits Are Hard To Break (2018, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
"Guilt" single (2018, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
Conspire Conspire Conspire (2019, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
I Digress EP (2020, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
False Flowers (2020, Amerikan Aesthetics Records)
Spiritual West (2022, No Funeral Records, Modern Grievance)

Cover art and band photo by John Caraveo