Crazy Arm packs a punch!
Crazy arm are a band from Plymouth. Yes, that is Plymouth, as in Devon, as in England. I say this because this is the sort of music that you don’t expect to come from around these parts. There is a mixture of Rootsy-Rock-Country-Punk that, well, sounds very American. If you take the likes of The Loved Ones, add some Gaslight Anthem and sprinkle in some Hot Water Music then you might be somewhere along the lines as to what I’m saying.
First song ‘Asphalt’ has a chunky bass line and a chilled hip-hop beat before the guitars hit in giving us a thoughtful song with heavy and dirty Funk undertones. This is then contrasted by the more straight-up-Rock of ‘Still To Keep’ that unleashes the slight gravel in Darren Johns’ vocals giving to comparisons to The Loved Ones. However it’s the fast Country-Punk of a song like ‘Blind Summit’ that give the band their edge, like in the way Flogging Molly lean towards Irish-Folk, Crazy Arm lean towards a Country-Jig and it works like a great rock anthem.
There is a hint of Progressive Rock in ‘Desire Lines’ whereby the beat and tempo changes as quick as the British weather in summer, then again in ‘Born To Ruin’ it’s a tin-whistle and a fiddle away from being an Irish ballad, that speeds up and slows down in just the right places. ‘Broken By The Wheel’ is a little like Chuck Regan fronting Gaslight Anthem which in itself is an intriguing mix. Full of passion it blasts out in a hard Folk-Punk journey.
‘Henry Fabian Flynn’ is a beautifully poetic song that speeds along protesting as per the content and shouting loud and proud throughout. It’s pure joy to listen to. ‘International Front’ is a slow song that builds into a head-banging chorus. If given to an MTV-friendly Rock darling band then it would be a definite hit, and is one of those tracks that you can imagine being played in a teen movie, and that’s not always a bad thing. Aside from the Queen-esque harmonies at the beginning, ‘Kith And Kingdom’ is a nice song again mixing up some Prog Rock with some Funk and pure unadulterated Rock. ‘Reassure Me’ borders on a slightly melodic Hardcore song, which is the complete opposite to the last song, ‘Christ In Concrete’ that is an epic of a track weighing in at just over six-minutes. To be honest you could tell it was coming with a couple of the other songs that the band like to build up the tempo, then change direction and almost feint one genre for another as they dodge critics pigeonholing them with ease.
‘Born To Ruin’ is a great debut album. All in all it does fall short of excellence with too many songs that the band try and be too creative and clever with. It’s in fact the simple songs that lean towards being stripped back down to basics that work the best. There are four of five great songs here and the rest are good solid tunes, and for a debut album from a Devonshire band that’s not half bad. I’ve lived in Plymouth so I know where angst comes from. Could be a band to watch out for…