103. SPECIAL FEATURE - EP Review and Interview of Citizens Band E.P. by Unbelievable Truth
Originally Published on March 17th, 2025
About the Band
Twenty years ago, the indie scene was much different than it is today. The main difference, the internet. The potential of the internet had not been realized yet. Musically, the most impactful thing to be introduced was something that nearly killed the record industry: Napster.
The internet was also useful for researching artists, which is something I’ve always loved to do. When I had a band I liked, I was fixated on learning about them. It was in researching my favorite band in 2002, that I made the discovery of a rock band that I would never forget. After reading about Unbelievable Truth, I went to Best Buy, Media Play, and Circuit City to find a CD where I could hear this band. No luck. So, I took to Nashville and walked into Tower Records. It was there I would find the album sorrythankyou.
Here is the tragedy of discovering Unbelievable Truth in 2002. They had broken up in 2000. Aside from releasing an album of miscellaneous music in 2001, they were no longer playing, no longer recording. Making this discovery was bittersweet because I had found such a deep connection to a band that I thought I would never hear do anything new.
Little did I know that they would find their way back to music twenty-two years later.
Unbelievable Truth are vocalist and guitar player Andy Yorke, bassist Jason Moulster, and drummer Nigel Powell. They formed in Oxford, England in the mid 90’s. Their debut album, Almost Here, was released by Virgin Records and actually reached number 21 on the UK Billboard Charts. They had two singles from that album also chart in the top 40 as well. In spite of this, a US Tour in support of Tori Amos, and a fantastic performance on the Jools Holland Show, they were dropped from Virgin.
For their follow up, sorrythankyou, they would release through Shifty Disco, a small independent label based out of their hometown of Oxford. Miscellaneous Music, which would have been their final release, consisted of B-Sides and live recordings, released in 2001. It released a year after the band had decided to part ways. From there, they would choose to attend University, pursue other career ventures, Nigel and Jason would continue their work in the music industry with other bands, and Andy would release a solo album. Unbelievable Truth would occasionally reunite to play a benefit, a friend’s birthday party, and they came together to play the farewell show of a local club in Oxford prior to its closing. They also reformed in 2023 to play a 25th anniversary show for the release of Almost There.
In October 2024, I received an email from an PR group in Oxford, Gets Louder. As I read the email, I felt the color flush from my face. My hands began to shake. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. Nothing could prepare me for the exciting news that day would bring me, fore I was receiving a submission of new work to be released by, none other than, Unbelievable Truth.
About the EP
Unbelievable Truth’s upcoming is called Citizens Band, e.p. It’s four songs are Citizens Band, Madison, Chemtrails, and Non-Combatant. The runtime for this EP is 16 minutes. It features performance by Yorke, Powell, and Moulster. It released on March 21st, 2025 under Noosphere Records.
About the Music
Citizens Band is the first single to have been released. It opens with an immersive arpeggiated piano part before Yorke’s vocals pour over the accompaniment. As the song progresses, it introduces strings, backing vocals, a percussive bell chime, and a very brief and subtle electric guitar part, consisting of one single note played twice towards the end.
The piano has such a serene flow to it. Yorke has such a calm about his vocal performance, it defies gravity as it floats just above the surface of the melody. Unbelievable Truth have used piano before in their past work, but how it has been incorporated in Citizens Band shows a dramatic evolution to the diversity of their instrumentation.
Non-Combatant opens with an a cappella introduction. Then to my utter joy, the full band comes in at the signal of an acoustic guitar riff. Yorke’s assertive vocal presence gives a battle-tested testament of an experienced lyricist who knows exactly what he’s trying to say melodically and lyrically. The band sound in pocket with some of their best moments together, I would say even better. Moulster provides a moving bass line that seems to do it all in bridging the percussion and the melodic performances of the song. Powell’s discipline is an expert level of performance, as he methodically puts out the perfect cadence and timbre within each segment of the song.
The arrangement is supported throughout most of the song by a very beautiful string arrangement. There is a particularly interesting moment musically during the bridge where the band segues into a bridge with a piano playing this relative but different melody, just as my ear trains to it, an oboe, layers over the melody. It is such a distinctive and perfect accompaniment. It plays so well into the music and yet is so surprising. It’s truly incredible how well it blends.
Chemtrails, opens with an arpeggiated guitar part, a piano accompaniment, and a backed out vocal part prior to another really power entrance by the band. The verse has offers a sort of chromatic melody led by guitar performance with Yorke performing over the top of it. Just as in Non-Combatant, Moulster and Powell are working as if they are sharing a brain. The bass and drums are linked at every moment.
The second chorus introduces a backing vocal section that, in part becomes a sort of second melody to the composition. This vocal part, backing the lead is so good, it nearly overshadows the rest of the song which is performed well all the way around. It is significant how it just takes over the attention of my ears.
Madison opens as a ballad featuring acoustic guitar, bass, and a very subtle percussion before the vocals come in. Yorke is in complete control of his vocal performance. His assertiveness in the storytelling. The control in his tone. His performance in the entire EP is one of the more cerebral performances I have heard in a long time.
Final Thoughts
As I write the final section of this article, I have now listened to the full work dozens of times. I’ve also had the utter privilege of sitting and talking with Andy and Nigel where we got to discuss the work at length.
Citizens Band E.P. is win/win. First, it’s a win because it is the same glorious sound I’ve come to love as a fan of Unbelievable Truth over these last 25 years. The perfect blend of alternative rock but with subtle nods to genres like folk, roots, and more as they encompass an overall organic sound. There are no production frills or spectacles in their performance. Except, that is, the performances themselves. If one is thinking they enjoyed the oboe in Non-Combatant, for instance, that is because the part was played by an oboe player in the studio. No affects, no tricks. It is simply Unbelievable Truth. It is every bit of them.
It is also a win because, though it’s the same band, it’s a more evolved band. It’s Moulster, Powell, and Yorke, but with twenty-five more years of experience. They’re more experimental about their performance, and yet they execute with such assertiveness, that it doesn’t feel like experimentation. It feels like wisdom. As with the lyrics in Citizens Band, the performance is complimented by contradiction. We had a small laugh at the expense of repetitively using the phrase “a soothing call to arms,” but the more I listen to it, the more it just rings true to me.
At the risk of sounding too eager, this might be my favorite work that Unbelievable Truth have produced. We also briefly discussed the band’s impression of their first albums; Almost There and sorrythankyou, and how they the projects differed in cohesiveness. Hearing them talk about it, I understand what they were saying. I think the most poignant thing about Citizens Band to that is that the cohesiveness of this work is absolutely there. The cohesiveness emerged in the way a plant emerges from a seed or sprout, beginning with things like uniformity in the performances; the pocket energy from Moulster and Powell’s link to Yorke’s control over the vocals, and prevailed throughout the roots and stem, as each song emerged as their own unique branch of the same plant providing bountiful fruits of their labors for the listeners to enjoy.
Though, I have every intention of examining every music I review with objectivity, I can honestly recognize my bias for Unbelievable Truth. I have been a fan of their music for a very long time. That does not make a single thing that I’ve said here wrong. Will Citizens Band E.P. bring the name Unbelievable Truth back to the forefront of the Indie rock conversation? Will the subsequent album that will hopefully be hitting airwaves in the fall? That’s to be seen.
The only assurance I can offer, with my limited influence and my limited credibility, is that I am walking away from this listening experience elated. If this is the product, anything is possible for the Unbelievable Truth.
You can also read more about the band here.
Citizens Band E.P. released in March 21st, and is available to stream on all major streaming platforms.
You can also purchase a limited edition vinyl here
You can view the band’s lyric video for Citizens Band on YouTube.
To view the full Fifteen Minutes of Fame interview with Jeff, Andy, and Nigel, click here
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