ARKELLS – Michigan Left (2011 Universal)

The Arkells smashed the radiowaves on their excellent second album, Michigan Left.  “Whistleblower” raged, with that guitar riff and cutting vocals, cementing the band into the minds of Canadians from coast to coast.  Aggressive and intelligent, it’s a tune that can’t be topped.  “Just a little bit of faith is what I want, it’s what I need in my institutions.”   Singer Max Kerman, a B.A. in Political Science, pours on all the passion that he is known for on this excellent track.  And that’s just one of ten excellent tracks.

Dig deeper into the album and you’ll find many tracks just as great as “Whistleblower”.

One of the band’s many strengths are the backing vocals.  Opening track “Book Club” has rich backing shouts, helping Max focus on the main message.  What a track!  The band’s home town of Hamilton is mentioned, and turns up elsewhere on the album.  The upbeat “Where U Goin” has plenty of the pop goodness that would increase on the band’s next album High Noon.  This is followed by the title track, a brilliant rock tune with unbeatable melodies.  The chorus soars overhead while the band jams and “whoah-ohs!” along.  Cool percussion and accoutrements on this amazing tune.

“Coffee” is a great Canadian song title, don’t you think?  “No no really, this one’s on me, I’ll let you get the next time we go out for coffee.”  Mixing acoustics with electric, Arkells make things a little more contemplative, and it works.  Certain lines here really hit home.  Specifically:  “Does he hit you?”  Sadly I think many of us know someone like the person who is the subject of this song.  Things get slamming again with “On Paper”, a fast tune with a punk-like energy to the choruses, even though it’s just radio rock.  There’s a brilliant riff change and a “Woo!” at about 2:25 that just kills!

The band slow it down a bit for “Kiss Cam”, a romantic single you can dance to.  And the lyrics?  “This campfire won’t last forever, the Hip have only wrote so many songs.”  How’s that for you?  These guys know how to write unforgettable words.  Always have.

“One Foot Out the Door” is different, quiet and tense.  The plucking of an electric guitar becomes the pulse of the song, but as always Kerman is the focus.  A false ending gives way to a deliciously chaotic blast of piano and guitars.  Awesome song.  A poppy riff then introduces “Bloodlines”, the one with the reference to the escarpment in Hamilton.  It’s about walking on eggshells in a relationship, something we can all relate to.

Album closer “Agent Zero” is hard to categorise.   It doesn’t feel like an album closer, but it does manage the job by ending it abruptly.  Perhaps another song would have ended the record with more drama, but “Agent Zero” isn’t a bad song at all.

You could tell these guys were only going up.  And go up they did!  One of Canada’s most popular bands today.

4/5 stars

 

Tune in this Friday for Arkells talk on Grab A Stack of Rock!