This week's PBS Feature Album is Taken By Force, the new exhilarating and reimagined proto-punk album by CIVIC. Taken By Force finds CIVIC setting their artful venting of existential dread against a backdrop of blistering riffs, thrashing rhythms, and shout-along-ready vocals. They joyfully obliterate the line between furious catharsis and unbridled fun, introducing a vital new energy into today’s musical landscape.

The new LP ushers in an exhilarating new chapter for the band who earned massive critical acclaim for their earlier releases including their 2021 debut album Future Forecast. CIVIC opted to record Taken By Force over one week in the Castlemaine countryside with Rob Younger from seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman producing. 

Hailed by Stereogum as “an unholy lo-fi pile-up of garage rock, punk, and ’90s-style noise-rock,” CIVIC inject every song with a visceral urgency hinting at their shared history in the local hardcorescene. As frontman Jim McCullough recalls, the band first took shape back in 2017, when he and afriend dreamed up a musical project inspired by iconic Australian punk acts like Radio Birdman and The Saints. “We were in a bowling alley in Japan and came up with a very strong focus for what theband could do, which was take that three-chord ’70s punk sound but get a little more thoughtfulwith the melodies and songwriting,” says McCullough.

Tune in all this week to hear tracks from Taken By Force, and PBS Members have the chance to win a copy of the album on vinyl via this Tuesday's e-newsletter, so make sure you check your inbox!

Not a PBS Member? Join now!

TOP TRACKS WE'RE LOVING THIS WEEK

Georgia Mooney - 'War Romance'

Georgia Mooney - War Romance (Official Music Video)

 

Vanessa Worm - 'Promised Land'

Teether & Kuya Neil - 'RENO'

Teether & Kuya Neil - RENO (Official Lyric Video)

 

Youfez - 'Switch'

Hannah Blackburn - 'Egg Song'

Egg Song

 

Blonde Revolver - 'Silhouette Roulette'

Henry Wagons - 'I Don’t Know When It Is I’m Gonna Die'

I Don’t Know When It Is I’m Gonna Die

 

Rotor - 'Sieben'

Brown Spirits - 'Space Race'

Brown Spirits - Space Race (Official Music Video)

 

11th Hour - 'Confront'