RECORD STORE TALES #1174:  Big Feelings & Why I’m Upset With the Arkells

I bought my first Arkells album High Noon back in 2017, but I really fell hard for the band in 2023.  The Canadian pop rock quintet hadn’t put out any songs I disliked, but in 2023 a combination of personal drama and a need for Canadian tunes led me to dive into the band all the way.  It was May, and in less than a year I had acquired all the albums.  That is a short period of time to absorb so much new music, but I did, and I loved virtually all of it.  There are actually few bands I love as much as the Arkells, and only a handful that I fell for so quickly.

I love their lyrics, from everyman tales of not being able to pay the rent, to social discourse and critique.  Singer Max Kerman was a Poli-Sci major, and also has his finger on the pulse of the youth.  This results in some pretty cool lyrics.  As for the band, their musicianship is top notch.  Drummer Tim Oxford is in my top Canadian drummers of all time, and you know that’s an elite list.  I’m also a big fan of bassist Nick Dika, who always has deep tones and fabulous bass melodies.

Shortly after I went all-in, the band released a new album called Laundry Pile, an acoustic affair with melancholy feelings.  A bit of a slow burner, but a brilliant album.  This was followed by the 2024 all-covers LP, Disco Loadout.  I enthusiastically went bonkers for it, and got it on CD and signed vinyl.  Their eclectic set of tunes, from Abba to Whitney interpreted by the rock band, satisfied deeply.  They threw in a couple rock tunes by Springsteen and Hall & Oates, and I just liked the whole album.  Could I fall in love any more with the Arkells?

Full stop to the summer of 2024.  So soon after the Disco Loadout album, Arkells announced the release of a new single called “Big Feelings”.   “It came together quickly,” said the band. “It started with a bold drum loop that Tim made, and was quickly arranged when the band assembled for a session in February.”

A few weeks after Aaron and I visited Sonic Boom records in Toronto, the Arkells announced an appearance at the store.  They brought with them 150 copies of “Big Feelings” on 180g clear vinyl, hand cut by Red Spade Records in Calgary, Alberta.

150 copies were all that were made.  And they sold out that day.  No copies have ever shown up on Discogs.

And this is why I’m upset with the Arkells.  I had just been to Sonic Boom a few weeks earlier, and there was no way I could make it down for that store release.  Trying to get there early enough to get one of the 150 copies…being in a crowd like that…no, no thanks.

I guess you could say, “Why are you upset, Mike?  It’s on you that you didn’t go.”

Sure, that’s true.  However, I think I’m on record for despising these kinds of releases that I’ll never get my hands on physically.  Maybe I’m not mad at the band; maybe I’m mad at the practice.  However it is the band that I have taken it out on.  “Big Feelings” remains the only Arkells song I don’t have, because I refused to buy it on iTunes.  I haven’t even put a “like” on the music video. Oh sure, I’ll probably give in eventually.  It just really bugs me that a band of Arkells’ stature, with thousands of fans who value physical media, would only release 150 copies in such an exclusive way.  Some might see that as indi-cool.  I don’t.  Arkells aren’t some garage band.  They have fans, and I feel a real disservice by this release.

Call me a curmudgeon, but that’s how I feel.