The Arkhamists – ‘Pretty Ugly’ LP Review

The mighty three piece is a dying breed.

Okay I can think of a couple of exceptions. Okay… A few.

But for the most part, the core of the bass, drums and guitarist with vocals formation has become diluted. I know here it’s not overly relevant in terms of genre (as we are looking at a straight-up, to-the-core “Grungey band”) but  look at Green Day. All things considered I loved Green Day, yet the trio have become something of a farce. Listen (or don’t) to that awful Uno… Dos… Tré! triple album for example. It’s painful. That 2013 Reading Festival will be forever tainted for me by their stunted performance.

Even Biffy Clyro (who I fucking love regardless), are starting to lose that lung scratching urgency that forged their first fire. Don’t get me wrong, I will sing along to ‘Many of Horror’ or ‘Mountains’, like every other sucker; but where are the flames, bro? But, I digress.

The band on trial here are The Arkhamists. And these guys have got themselves an almighty, Grunged-up napalm bonfire!

Setting trails of dust and embers in their wake, The Arkhamists are a classic Grunge trio from Walsall, UK, held together by the strikingly aggressive guitar work and vocals of Dan Alexis, the dirty bass of Joe Green, alongside the apocalyptic drumming of Baden Fitzmaurice.

Having toured every dip and dive of the west midlands a lot more than once over, the band find themselves on the eve of their second LP release Pretty Ugly, the follow-up to 2012s, Eject the Reject. Going on the first single Slender, with its video relating to the turd-curdling videogame of the song’s name sake, it’s hard to deny it’s something to get excited about.

I am finding it difficult to write about The Arkhamists without drawing comparisons. As you may well know, I have Grunge written into my coding after an adolescence spent gorging on it, and as such the curse of comparison is hard to shake. But in respect of the sheer brilliance of the bands up for comparison, you can hardly complain.

At times it feels as though The Arkhamists have Soundgarden’s seminal LP, Superunknown, hard wired into their DNA. This can be seen particularly on Eject the Reject’s track, ‘En Guarde’, which tastefully resonates Soundgarden’s ‘Kickstand’, with additional visceral howling, a tasty guitar solo and hooking lyrics, such as opening line, ‘We are not here to Fuck Around!’.

Elsewhere, the famous contrasting dynamics of Grunge (quiet verses, loud choruses), are put to good use in the beautifully crafted, ‘Summer Mildew’, all without the song’s format ever appearing gimmicky. Throughout the verses, Alexis’ voice purrs in a seductively enticing manner, over the reserved, yet swaggering, guitar riff, which leads you into the distortion frenzy of the post-chorus.

Further Grunge god comparisons can be seen in track, ‘Lion the Tiger’, that appears to resonate Nirvana‘s ‘Very Ape’, if only it had a tighter, more singable chorus. From the opening Joe Green’s bass seethes with angst, leading the simplistic yet brutal riff that, thinking about it now, reminds me of Alice in Chains‘ ‘We Die Young’.

Don’t let these comparisons deter you. Not at any point does it feel as though The Arkhamists have simply “copy and pasted” the aforementioned bands, and lost their own sound. It’s more that they’re paying homage. Isn’t that what a lot of good music is anyway? A selection of great influences that all culminate in creating something familiar, yet new. This is what Arkhamists achieve with finesse. I mean come on, why is it that in interviewing new bands the opening question is always to ask the band to list their influences?

The Arkhamists will be playing a live ‘weekender’ on the 24th and 25th of October at Fixxion, Wolverhampton, followed by the Wharf Bar, Walsall (respectively) and I cannot stress enough how worthwhile attendance would be. It’ll be Awesome!

The Arkhamist’s LP, Pretty Ugly is released on October 25^th.

And keep in touch with or listen to the mighty trio’s back catalogue on their social media pages;

Facebook – The Arkhamists

Twitter – @TheArkhamists

YouTube – The Arkhamists

Soundcloud – The Arkhamists

Brush your teeth, wash behind your ears and keep Musically Fresh.