I first heard Citay on the fine Uncut-compilation Comets, Ghosts, and Sunburned Hands which collected the freaky-folk, psyched-out, and sometimes proggy likes of Black Mountain, Dead Meadow, Howlin' Rain, and Six Organs of Admittance. A compilation that no doubt provided a gateway to this kind of artist for many - though with a wealth of greatness on display there, I hadn't got round to Citay until I got sent this, their third album..

Citay are centred around Ezra Feinberg and Tim Green of the Fucking Champs, though appear to have expanded to a six-piece band over their last few records - while citing some hip influences (Eno, Fripp, Popol Vuh), Citay also appear to revere untrendy albums by Mike Oldfield (Hergest Ridge, apparently) and like many of the great alt-rock bands of the last decade are enamoured with 70's rock (Led Zep, Thin Lizzy, ZZ Top before the videos etc).

At some point in the last decade I ceased to fear the riff and felt happier with good clean 70's U.S. rock like Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, and Kiss. Even fucking Lynyrd Skynyrd!! It became more enjoyable to listen to something like Van Halen properly for the first time than suffer endless reissues of Joy Division. Americans seem not to fear the riff - which is why Black Flag revered Sabbath's Born Again at the time, while Mojo described the same LP in negative terms within the last month. It's also safe to say that Citay don't fear the riff.

Opening track 'Careful with That Hat' (a reference to Drugstore Cowboy?) starts off with a blend of female vocals and guitar-work that make you think of Thin Lizzy..and even early Dire Straits before concluding with something that feels a bit more space-rock. The title track features Feinberg on lead vocals and sounds how Ride's Carnival of Light should have - though there's more of that Lizzy guitar-overdrive.

Both 'Hunter' and 'Secret Breakfast' are more psyched out affairs - the former features a suitably freaky synth solo from Howlin' Rain's Josh Robinow, while the latter could pass for one of those great lost cult albums you hear on the Freak Zone or in a book like Galactic Ramble. 'Secret Breakfast' seems to square the psychedelic directions of Black Cab and Black Mountain and sounds epic, like Television playing Fairport Convention..

Dream Get Together peaks with the seven-minute plus epic power pop of 'Fortunate Son' which pretty much manages to condense and better most of what has passed before - the 70's rock inflections, the male/female vocal interplay, the freaky keyboards. But that's not where the LP ends - a brilliant cover of Galaxie 500's debut single is the actual conclusion.

I've always loved Galaxie 500, especially after reading Dean Wareham's memoir Black Postcards , and it's quite fortuitous to cover Galaxie 500 with imminent reissues on Domino that may find them being rediscovered by many (though probably not reforming). Citay step away from the dream-pop soundscape approach of the original and go for an acoustic campfire vibe not far from Akron/Family - though at the end some severe Fripp/Gilmour-style guitar comes into play.

As in 2009, it seems that in 2010 I'll be blown away by North-American bands I was only mildly aware of who have already released several albums...and realise that I'll have to invest and investigate their back-catalogue in more detail. I just hope some wise festival like the Green Man books them - Dream Get Together is another album presenting itself as a highlight of 2010 already..

NOTE - Citay's Dream Get Together -project, where fellow bands are asked for dream musical collaborations, can be seen on their website here