A.R.E. Weapons - 'A.R.E. Weapons' (Rough Trade)
3/5
By: Joshua K
Yo! Straight outta the exaggeratedly 'mean streets'
of NYC! Here come A.R.E. Weapons, finally pimping a
full-length LP (relatively speaking, at under 35
minutes of music) nearly two years after first
molesting our fancies with the rough n' ready singles
'Street Gang' and 'New York Muscle', both included
here.
For those unfamiliar with the A.R.E. experience,
here's the deal. The trio mine the same Suicide
electro-minimalism meets Andrew WK rock-vibe as Jarvis
Cocker's new Relaxed Muscle project, but with added-bonus
slasher-movie atmospherics ('Headbanger Face') and rap
attitude ('Fuck You Pay Me') - and bereft of Cocker's
subtle, arch humor.
Of course, it was the Pulp frontman who brought the
A.R.E. boys to Rough Trade in the first place, so what
did he see? Surely the tasty neo-industrial crunch of
'Changes', the 'West Side Story' goes Devo of the
aforementioned 'Street Gang', and the Mondays
Madchester of 'Don't Be Scared' for three. And he
must have especially appreciated closer 'Hey World',
an anthem about the trials of growing up set against
an '80s keyboard line worthy of Howard Jones, replete
with handclaps.
Admittedly, all of these disparate influences never
completely gel and the end result feels too trendy by
half. Yet, at the same time - and more
importantly - not half bad as an introduction.
Artists in this article: A.R.E. Weapons
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