CD Review: Citizen Zero – “State of Mind” (Wind-Up Records)

A quick preface – Citizen Zero’s State Of Mind is best enjoyed with something tall and cold, perhaps a beverage of the adult variety; two fingers of something on the rocks most preferably. There’s incredible passion infused into Josh LeMay’s wailing vocal refrains (“Go (Let Me Save You),” “Save The Queen,” “State Of Mind”), backed by howling guitars underpinned with a staunch emotive blues and Americana vibe (the soaring “Love Let It,” which houses some of State of Mind’s best guitar work, the plodding and demonstrative “Applause and Fame,” the Southern rock and gospel-tinged “Bangin’ In the Nails”). Citizen Zero pulls a Houdini act on “When the Rain Comes,” State of Mind’s heaviest entry, thanks to weighty guitar work and modern rock hooks, which leads them to sound closer to Shinedown or Tantric than anything else. Also, you might not hear a better album closer than the massively yearning and earnest “Home” anytime soon. Citizen Zero proves they are old souls on State Of Mind, one hell of a front porch album if there ever was one.

Grade: B

Go Download: “Home”