Fresno Famous

Citizens Here and Abroad is a shoegazing rock act from Oakland, driven by the melodic guitar riffs of Dan Lowrie, the slightly dissonant vocal harmonies of Robillard and Chris Groves, and the intense drumming of Chris Wtherell. Their new album, Ghost of Tables and Chairs (omnibus records), is a mellow rock album littered with offbeat keyboard licks and the spooky echo of bells.

Adrienne Robillard, formerly of Fresno, was an employee of Taco Bell while she attended Hoover High, and we thought it fitting that one of her peers, a Taco Bell employee, should share his thoughts on the new record.

I explained to Miguel, the current manager of the location, that Robillard used to work at the same Taco Bell. He seemed non-plussed but granted our request to interview one of his employees. "Sure, they just have to be on break. I'm not paying them to do interviews, I'm paying them to make tacos."

Famous settles on Jerry, who works the night shift and agrees to listen to the CD on a boom box outside. Drive thru headgear still dangling from his neck, Jerry sipped an iced coffee from Starbucks and shared his thoughts on the album.

Jerry: Is she famous? I've never heard of her.

Famous: I guess she's sort of famous, she has a video. What kind of music do you usually listen to?

J: Everything from hip hop to rock, you know.

FF: What are some of you favorite bands?

J: Like punk bands, I like Thrice and the Sex Pistols. Punk Music. I listen to a lot of R&B music like Usher, here and there. Also hip hop, I like Nas and all those guys that can rhyme lyrically and poetically,

[the album begins]

There's something about them [Citizens] that reminds of the Eighties, you know?

FF: Are any of the people working here now working on albums?

J: I don't know about that. I doubt it, but you never know.

[We fast forward to the fourth track of the album, Enter the Elevator]

Whoa. It's kinda like the Vines when they really play heavy. Her voice doesn't stand out, I kind of want it to sound more present like a Strokes album or something. I like the drumming on this track, it's very creative.

I like how they switch it up with each track, they are all so different. With a Strokes album, all the tracks sound sort of the same, same tempo, this guitar part [on the Citizens' album] sounds way different than the last one.

She uses a lot of metaphors.

Ghosts of Tables and Chairs can be purchased online at tonevendor.