“Hey, Nurse Kat!” I asked on Twitter one summery afternoon. “I already have and love High Noon and Michigan Left by the Arkells. What album should I buy next?”

“Morning Report,” answered Nurse Kat.

“Morning Report,” answered Nurse Kat’s friend.

“Ordered!” I responded.

In sum:  Nurse Kat and her friend were right.

4.5/5 stars

Wait wait wait…that’s not how we do reviews around here!  OK folks, let’s get ready to dive deep.  Coffee:  heated.  Let’s go.

ARKELLS – Morning Report (2016 Last Gang)

First of all I will preface all of this by saying that this album and this band has recently helped me get through a rough patch, so there is a certain attachment that I have made with Morning Report that colours everything I will say about it.  The fact that it made that connection is the important part.  An album that connects, that’s special.  That’s for life!

Here’s the interesting thing.  For an album I love so much, I don’t particularly care for the first two tracks!  I also find the closer underwhelming, but that leaves nine tracks of pure awesome to gush over.  But first, let’s get the opening pair out of the way.

I don’t particularly like when the Arkells get too much into modern mainstream pop, because I do not care for modern mainstream pop.  The opening pair “Drake’s Dad” and “Private School” would fall in this category for me.  Having said this, both songs have awesome choruses.  “Drake’s Dad” has a powerful soul/gospel chorus of “I just wanna hold you, so high!” that raises the roof.  It also has a lush arrangement with strings and samples.  “Private School” has a fun hook of “Ah, fuck off, don’t say I’d do the same!”  Silly fun.

The serious stuff starts with track #3, “My Heart’s Always Yours”.  This suave pop rock ballad just hits all the feels.  Max Kerman has a way with words and I’m certain that the ladies love him for it.  Though keyboards are the prominent hook-delivering instrument, the pure passion and panache of this song just elevates it to the clouds.  A brilliant song, made indelible in the brain and heart!

Things get even better on “Savannah”, the fast acoustic-based song with killer lyrics.  “She was named after, she was named after her dad’s favourite city.  I was named after, I was named after the fact…”  How does Max come up with this stuff?!  He paints a picture of characters, often female, coming in and our his life.  He tells their stories, often depicting musty old apartments, messy beds, and empty refrigerators.  Musically, “Savannah” is even better.  It’s powerful and it has a trumpet solo, so what more could you want?  The chorus is probably the most immediate one on the album.

Then…get ready for chills, for it is time for “Passenger Seat”, the most haunting song on the album and easily one of the most chill-inducing I’ve ever heard.   But then the chorus comes, with Max in a high falsetto, accompanied by sparse piano and keyboard effects.  “Driving on the highway home, this time alone, doesn’t mean the same without you.  I turn on the radio, to something slow, just to let it fuck with my mood…but songs don’t sound the same without you in the passenger seat.”  Who can’t relate to that?  (People without driver’s licenses I suppose.)

Brightness returns on “Making Due”, the song that really means something to Nurse Kat.  I can see why.  The music is pure uplifting magic, and the lyrics cut clean through.  A sunny guitar hook opens the track, and then Max delivers some of his best melodies and words to date.  That falsetto really nails the hooks home.  Favourite lines:  “I thought we made a deal, you were crossin’ your fingers!”  Or  “Got a pulse, but there’s a few beats missin’.”

Acoustics come to the fore on “Round and Round”, a folksy number (at first) that serves to bridge two very upbeat pop songs.  The band comes in partway and it becomes a little more late Beatles-y in a weird way.  Horns come blastin’ through, then synth, and it becomes something else entirely: something birthed in the early 80s, but talking about MuchMusic’s Electric Circus TV show circa 1999.  An interesting track that is more than meets the ear.

“Hung Up” is impossible not to dance to.  “The gatekeepers are keepin’ me out, let me in!  Who made you the president, well fucker?”  The horns also return, along with the synth, creating a modern pop rock classic.  And I just love Max Kerman’s trio of “Well fucker?” at the end of the song.  (Also listen carefully for a reference to “Fake Money” from the prior album High Noon.)  No folks, he may be no Axl Rose, but Max Kerman is not afraid of dropping F-bombs right and left.  Fortunately I’m easily entertained and I find his use of the word (usually) effective and not overdone.

The beautiful “Come Back Home” is a quieter, slow ballad, with a thrumming bassline that provides a dreamy foundation, like a pillow.  “All would be forgiven if you’d come back home,” begs Max.  “‘Cause I just wanna be yours again.”  Filled with regret, Max is looking for reconciliation.  Morning Report could in fact be a concept album about shattered relationships and our reactions to them.  “And I thought about all the ways I could hurt you, to even the score of feelin’ deserted.”

The upbeat moods return on “A Little Rain (A Song for Pete)”.  Max has indicated he’s probably an atheist in past lyrics, but here he says “I stumbled in St. Peter’s Cathedral, there I was.  I never tried religion but man, I’ll try anything once.”  I can’t tell if this song is about someone name Pete, or if Max is singing as if he’s having conversations with St. Pete himself.  It means whatever you want it to!  This incredibly catchy tune has a fun, bouncy beat and a suitable synth riff to go with it.  Drummer Tim Oxford is definitely an underrated percussionist who doesn’t play it simple and always has catchy fills.

A slower but powerful song called “And Then Some”  is next to last.  The romantic dreamer is so good!  “And I love every inch of you, and then some and then some.”  Beautiful song and I can’t help but think of Tom Cochrane on the chorus.  Something about Max’s delivery sounds like the Red Rider frontman.

Strangely, after all this power, all these hooks, and thick arrangements, the final song is very different from anything else.  Quiet, understated and short, “Hangs the Moon” is like a coda.  The arrangement is very bare, and Max’s voice is the main feature.  The Arkells occasionally choose interesting, unconventional closing songs, and this is one.  It works, but it’s not among my favourite songs on the album.

For me, Morning Report is 9/12 awesome songs, with 3 that are not bad but not my bag.

Morning Report is an album that I have listened to intensely for the last couple months, and has made a permanent impression on my soul.  With Max’s lyrics tattooed on my heart, my score will come as no surprise.

4.5/5 stars

Thanks Nurse Kat and friend for the recommend.