City Riots were an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, which formed in 2005 and active until about 2014. Their lead vocalist and front man was Ricky Kradolfer. They played in Australia, United States and the United Kingdom, touring with

Smashing Pumpkins Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer Art, ...

Cobra Starship Cobra Starship was an American dance-pop band founded in 2005 by Gabe Saporta (ex- Midtown), and headquartered in New York City. He recorded the first album as a solo project, ''While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets''. Saporta later enliste ...

Midnight Juggernauts Midnight Juggernauts were an Australian band from Melbourne, composed of Andrew Szekeres, Vincent Vendetta (Vincent Heimann), and Daniel Stricker. The band has been described as anything from 'prog dance meets cosmic film scores', to 'slasher-fl ...

and others

History

The band formed in 2005. Their 2008 single "Burning Me Out" received national airplay on

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, were one of the station's Next Crop Acts and were an Unearthed

J Award The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

nominee in 2008. They played in Australia, United States and the United Kingdom, touring with Smashing Pumpkins, The Academy Is...,

and Operator Please. In 2010 the band performed at South by Southwest, and the track "She Never Wants to Dance" later appeared on the band's debut album, ''Sea of Bright Lights'', in 2012, and received high rotation on Triple J. The associated tour started with a gig supporting

the Living End The Living End are an Australian punk rockabilly band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 199 ...

in November 2012. In 2013, Ricky Kradolfer won the Best Music Manager award in the Fowlers Live Awards (now

South Australian Music Awards The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary mu ...

). The last post on their Facebook page dates from February 2016, and by November 2016 the group had disbanded, with Ricky Kradolfer appearing with Sydney-based High Violet.

Reviews

Tess Ingram of ''

The Music The Music are an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the releas ...

'' reviewed ''Sea of Bright Lights'' (22 October 2012) and observed, "With breathy vocals, soaring synths, jangly guitars and hook-laden pop tunes, his releaseis the perfect album for a summer road trip or a long day at the beach. The aforementioned sonic combination could come across as fake and irritating, but

he group He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

have found the perfect balance of indie rock and dream pop to make this a debut with enough variation to be an easy listen."

Members

* Daniel Kradolfer: – drums, percussion, backing vocals * Ricky Kradolfer: – vocals, guitars, synthesiser, organ * Mark Seddon: – bass guitar * John de Michele: – bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals * Matt Stadler: – keyboards, synthesiser * Matthew Edge: – bass guitar, vocals, guitars, keyboards

Discography

Albums

* ''Sea of Bright Lights'' (22 October 2012) – Inertia Music (CITRIOT12)

Extended plays

* ''City Riots'' (6 November 2006) –

MGM Distribution MGM Distribution (Metropolitan Groove Merchants) is the largest independent distributor of Australian music and music related merchandise and was established in April 1998 by Sebastian Chase. MGM Distribution was specifically set up as a dist ...

(CITYRIOT06) * ''Socialize'' (2008) MGM Distribution * ''Matchsticks'' (2011) MGM Distribution

Singles

*"She Never Wants to Dance" (2010) *"In My Head" (2011) *"Matchsticks" (2011) *"Wait for You" (2012) *"Catch the Sun" (2012)

Awards and nominations

Fowler's Live Music Awards

The Fowler's Live Music Awards took place from 2012 to 2014 to "recognise success and achievement over the past 12 months ndcelebrate the great diversity of original live music" in South Australia. Since 2015 they're known as the

. , - , 2013 , Ricky Kradolfer (City Riots) , Best Music Manager , , -

J Awards

The

J Awards The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...

are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

's youth-focused radio station

. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

J Awards of 2008 The J Award of 2008 is the fourth annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station ...

, themselves , Unearthed Artist of the Year ,