San Francisco-based post punk outfit Strange Cities have developed a reputation for a powerful and energetic live show that has landed them opening slots for Gene Loves Jezebel and The Sisters of Mercy. They also caught the attention of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros,’ The Alarm‘s and Archive‘s Steve “Smiley” Barnard, who invited them to England to record most of their latest album Moments Stolen at this Sunshine Corner Studio. 

Moments Stolen sees the Bay Area-based outfit firmly cementing a sound that reflects the foggy, jagged and dystopian landscape that inspired their name with their sound frequently skirting the fringe of noise and melody, melancholy and nostalgia, tragedy and hope. 

Earlier this week, I wrote about “Holoscene,” a danceable bit of post-punk that seemed to channel Murmur-era R.E.M., Boy and War-era U2 and others. Written during the darkest days of the pandemic, “Holoscene” thematically captures a very real fear of losing something so deeply human and necessary, permanently — nights out with friends, dancing and catching live music.

Moments Stolen’s latest single is the remarkably Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here-era Echo and the Bunnymen-like anthemic “Cage.” Certainly, if you’re a child of the 70s and 80s, “Cage” will bring back some bittersweet nostalgia of seemingly simpler days. Pull out that Walkman and dance the night away, right?