As You Please

Top-40 pop-rock bands aren’t generally known for their jams about the Rust Belt. Citizen isn’t typical. The Midwest rock band reached No. 2 on the Billboard vinyl album charts with 2015’s Everybody Is Going to Heaven, and now returns with As You Please, its third and most versatile album to date. The opening track, “Jet,” feels appropriately titled, immediately launching into radio-rock familiarity, mirroring a Foo Fighters-type drive steered by Mat Kerekes’ Grohl-esque howl. Kerekes, the five-piece’s songwriter and vocalist, hails from Toledo, Ohio. On As You Please, he examines the forces that’ve been unraveling the area’s spirit. The subject matter is dark, even with its pop sheen. Songs like “Discreet Routine” mark the album’s somber tone as Kerekes weaves his trudging vocal hook through wide open verses and thorny musical breakdowns, moving parallel with hard-hit rhythms. It’s radio rock in its cathartic prime, and if that’s your thing, this very well could be a new favorite.