Arches at Johnny Brenda's, 7/16/11
Philadelphia's Arches formed a few years back at college in St. Petersburg, FL, and moved to the city last year. Since then, they've impressed crowds with their warm, moody, reverb-drenched rock concoctions and energetic live shows. A quartet consisting of former roommates Tom Herman Jr. and Julien Rossow-Greenberg -- plus buddies Cristian Adams and Kevin Kearney, I caught the guys live a few weeks back at their record release show (for the fantastic, Kickstarter-funded Wide Awake), where their mercurial tunes had the crowd reelin'.
Arches at JB's. Click any photo to enlarge.
And while a cursory listen might not reveal much beyond beautiful textures, Awake, on closer listen, is actually a concept album: about a depressed city-dweller whose crippling loneliness forces him to abandon his lifestyle and become a drifter...but who soon finds himself lost in a melange of memories and delusions. Live, the band conveys these ideas with capricious, psychedelia-tinged melodies and vintage reverb, evoking nostalgia through gusty, pastoral concoctions.
Tunes like album opener/ 'Fork-casted slow groove "This Isn't a Good Night for Walking" match winter-y vocal harmonies with a catchy piano bounce for a result that seems effortlessly tender yet simultaneously apprehensive -- while "Cobblestones" is a blustery slice of Americana-tinged art pop, moving from spacious guitar folk to a complex, shifting soundscape of twinkling guitars, keys and electronics. "Headlights" starts gentle and autumnal, only to grow bigger and thicker before receding once more -- while closer "It Won't Take Long" is a percussive, midtempo jawn that bobs along affably for 6 minutes, reeling you in with an insatiable bass line. Arches might be newcomers to the Philly scene, but their complex tunes feel right at home here.
Scoop up Wide Awake at the band's Bandcamp -- or catch them August 18 at Kung Fu Necktie with Creepoid, Shore, and The Diamond Center.
Previously on Local Radar: Welter
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