Tag: music review

Arkells – High Noon

From the very first moments of listening to Arkells new CD High Noon I was hooked. It’s been awhile since I had something new excite me, but these guys definitely grabbed my attention. Their album is full of energy to get you pumped. Whether you need some motivation to finish that project, have a long drive ahead of you, or just want to have a dance party in your living room, Arkells have got you covered with an album chock full of jams that will get you revved up and ready to face another day. I am not kidding you when I say that three songs into this album I was checking my calendar to see when my next chance to catch them live would be (it’s May 5th at Rockwood Music Hall).

Clearly I’m not the only ones excited about this band, since this past weekend they won Juno awards for Rock Album of the Year and Group of the Year. Good for them, because it’s rare I get to see a band like this get noticed in a meaningful way. Rock music in general usually has to take a back seat to the pop artists and other Top 40 celebs. Even when a rock band does get mainstream attention, you’ll see plenty of posts on social media asking “who the hell are these guys?” (Arcade Fire’s big win in 2011 comes to mind). I don’t know if we’re going to be seeing Arkells with a Grammy nod, but the Juno is a good start and I’m happy for them.

https://youtu.be/2qf8oGI2Wlw

If you want to check the album out for yourself, you can do so at Amazon or iTunes. I’m also including a song off Soundcloud, which was my introduction to these guys and what made me want to review the album. I have a feeling it will invoke a similar reaction from you

Middle Finger Salute – #Redux

Middle Finger Salute are a band from England that a friend of mine introduced me to recently. When putting out the call at the beginning of the year for possible topics to post about here, this was one of the first responses I got. The only reason I waited so long to finally do it is because they were scheduled to have an EP come out February 28th, which is what this review will focus on today.

When I first got this pitch I admit it was a band I had never heard of before. The friend in question has pretty good taste though, so I gave a listen to the song she sent me.

I fell in love pretty quickly and knew their upcoming EP would be worth listening to. I was not disappointed. The whole thing is high energy. It’s short, only 20 minutes, but that’s enough time to help most subway rides become far more enjoyable. Bonus: if people get too pushy you’ll have the perfect soundtrack in your ears while you push them back. Not sure that’s what the band intended, but the album is definitely a lot of fun and something I plan to give a spot on my already full iPod towards. There’s even an acoustic version of a song to slowly wind down as you get closer to home. Your choice if you just start the album over again and jam out in your living room. No judgment here because these tunes are infectious and definitely leave you craving more.

For more information on the band or to download the new album, you can go to their Facebook and Bandcamp pages respectively. As always, anything worth buying is worth sharing too, so please share this post (and the album) with your punk rock loving friends.