Album Review: Fist City - Everything Is A Mess

These Canadian anarchists balance punk and pop on a knife’s edge on Everything Is A Mess — and while it’s raucous and fun, they don’t get away with it unscathed.

The secret ingredients — the swathe of shoegaze fuzz that clouds certain tracks like Rats (one of the standouts), and the skewed humour taking barbed aim at subject material like brutal police (Fuck Cops) and controversial Toronto ex-mayor Rob Ford (Hey Little Sister) — are countered by repetition, five interludes and a distinct over-familiarity. It’s fun but lacks a knockout punch.