Music Review: The Arkhams – The Road to Arkham
Review by Tony – Hell Feels Like Home
The Arkhams are a three piece from Queens, NY. These guys get lumped into the psychobilly genre but have a sound that is so much more. The sound here is a seamless combination of classic rock n’ roll, surf, and rockabilly with tastes of blues and garage. The guitars here are amazing. The distortion is so warm and combines wild, freak-out surf and rockabilly leads with solid rhythm. The stand up bass sound is hard and driving when it needs to be but also subtle and melodic when the song calls for it. The drums have a great groove and add a bit of swing to these songs. All three members share the vocals and do a nice of job of being melodic while still having a rough attitude about them.
“Road to Arkham” is a shimmering instrumental with buzzing surf guitar and heavy vibrato. Killer music that is dreamy but with passages that create a dark, nightmarish landscape. “Next Time You See Me” starts with a slow sinister swing. Great vocal performance with a threatening swagger that goes great with lyrics about how your next run-in with these guys might not be so pleasant. The bass really throws down a hard groove here and the guitars have a cool bouncing rhythm and hot lead breaks. “She’s Got the Power” is a catchy rockabilly flavored number with punk drive. Cool breaking vocals that go with the desperation of the lyrics about a girl who has just a little too much pull with her fella. “Hell’s Where All the Good Records Are” sounds like a 50′s rock n’ roll beach party that has been crashed by rowdy hooligans that have come to play their own revved-up devil’s surf rock ‘n roll. Really smoking song where you can almost feel the flames of hell tickle your feet with the gruff vibrato of great lines like “put your soul on the jukebox, watch it burn to a crisp” and “you oughta see the devil’s record bins.” “I Want a Woman” has a great sleazy psychobilly sound to it where the bass really pounds and drives with snaking in your face guitars. “Bulldog” starts with some thumping dark bass and moves into a Rockabilly swing. The vocals here are higher with some cool falsettos. The drums are extremely tight here and really, really make this song move.
I’ll make this easy, The Arkhams are fantastic. The musicianship here is really tight but still knows how to be loose and really swing. This album is destined to be an underground classic and should be in the collections of people who are into Psychobilly, Rockabilly, and Surf. If you are into any of those genres or are just looking for something with a great rock n’ roll feel check these guys out. I can’t wait to hear more from these guys.
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