The Citizen

Citizen fuses explosive emo-pop, post-hardcore textures, shoegaze atmospherics, punk urgency, and dense, riff-driven indie rock into a singular Midwestern sound. The Toledo-based group surfaced in the early 2010s and has sustained a consistent flow of vigorous, distinctive releases—Everybody Is Going to Heaven (2015), Life in Your Glass World (2021), and Calling the Dogs (2023)—that remain both eclectic and unmistakably their own.

Drawn from Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio, the band formed in 2009 and wasted little time, issuing three 7" singles followed by the EP Young States. After signing with Run for Cover Records, they delivered their debut full-length, Youth, during summer 2013 shortly before appearing on that year’s Vans Warped Tour. The late-2014 single “Silo” preceded their sophomore album, the well-received Everybody Is Going to Heaven, which surfaced in June 2015.

Longtime producer Will Yip helped broaden the palette on the third album, As You Please, which brought added instrumentation and sonic experimentation when it arrived in 2017. The punchy single “I Want to Kill You” emerged in January 2021 ahead of the emo experimentalist’s fourth album, Life in Your Glass World. On the fifth long-player, former touring members Ben Russin (drums) and Mason Mercer (guitar) joined Mat Kerekes (vocals) alongside brothers Nick (lead guitar) and Eric Hamm (bass). Released in 2023, Calling the Dogs found Citizen unleashing a fervent collection of distortion-laden anthems and ballads that spanned their full range of sonic inclinations.