Sunday, May 12, 2024

Extra Arms - RADAR


Extra Arms have been a go-to band for me for a number of years, so I'm always excited to hear new music from southeastern Michigan's finest loud pop foursome. The band's new album RADAR is its first in two years, but it's the first album the band has made together in the studio since 2019. 2022's What Is Even Happening Right Now? was a terrific record, but the band members recorded all their parts remotely due to pandemic restrictions. And when it comes to a rock band like Extra Arms, chemistry and live connection are everything. So if you want to call RADAR the first "real" Extra Arms album in nearly five years, that's not entirely inaccurate. 

Extra Arms — Ryan Allen on lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Ryan Marshall on bass, Daniel Stover on drums, and Jordan Wright on guitar — have come through with their best album by far. RADAR, named after Marshall's dog, takes everything you loved about Extra Arms and makes it bigger. Every aspect of this record — from the production to the hooks to the ambition of the songwriting  — feels more massive than before. Being someone who lives under the delusion that it's only a matter of time before real rock music re-takes the commercial airwaves, I can almost convince myself that I could turn the radio on right now and hear one of these songs. Perhaps that ship has sailed, but Extra Arms belong spiritually to a bygone era when there was honor and artistic merit in crafting a perfect pop song that could rock your face off. RADAR doesn't mess much with the band's musical approach, but it refines it and takes it to the next level. The sound is equal parts power pop, indie rock, and the good parts of classic rock with the spirit of punk and new wave bubbling under. If you think that sounds like something I'd be into, you'd be very right! Allen is one of my favorite vocalists, and he excels at condensing six decades' worth of melody-driven songwriting tradition into something that sounds far more timeless than retro. He manages to toss bits and pieces of Cheap Trick, The Replacements, The Cars, The Kinks, Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, and Bob Mould in a blender and concoct something that sounds contemporary yet pleasingly familiar. Lyrically he really pushes these songs into the present, mixing personal reflections on modern life with some sharp social commentary. 

Allen and his band-mates Marshall, Stover, and Wright form a well-oiled machine; RADAR soars on the strength of thunderous guitars, tight and powerful rhythm work, and silky vocal harmonies. The album doesn't veer far from Extra Arms' usual M.O., but it does find the band incorporating some new tricks and taking full advantage of the talents of some guest musicians. "Space and Time" is a touching country rock ballad  featuring Dave Feeny on pedal steel. Jessi Dills' trumpet adds a new dimension to the band's core sound on "All Good Things Take Time." Album closer "Sit Back Up," featuring Matt Jones on saxophone, is almost Springsteen-esque. "Shut 'Em Down" is a fight-the-power anthem worthy of a packed stadium. While the album as a whole is less overtly '90s-sounding than earlier Extra Arms efforts, "Mad Dog Blue" instantly transports me to a moment when hearing Teenage Fanclub for the first time was life-changing. 

Finally given the chance to properly get the band back together, Extra Arms did not waste the opportunity to make the record of their lives. Engineered by Geoff Michael at his Big Sky Studios, produced by Ryan Allen, and mixed and mastered by Paul Miner, RADAR sounds like a million bucks — with songs that are absolutely worthy of all that studio sheen. And as polished as this album is, none of that comes at the expense of energy. Call it power pop. Call it alternative rock. Call it rock n' roll. It doesn't really matter. If you like rocking pop songs with hooks for days that come straight from the heart, RADAR needs to be on your radar.

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