Arizona – Glowing Bird
Well this is basically just indie rock. There you go, genre and style defined, and pigeonhole allocated. There’s a touch of Ryan Adamsy Americana in there from time to time and the sound can be just a little old-fashioned at times, like it had been hatched in the late 90s, but basically this is a straight down the line indie rock album. I have to thank Tart for introducing me to this. She’s a regular reader, middle-aged carpet muncher and writer of I Correct Myself, I Mean All the Time and sent a link to this through a good few weeks ago.
You know when you listen to an album and instead of either jumping for joy or puffing out your cheeks in disappointment you just think ‘yes, that’s good, that’s one for the collection’? Well that’s how I reacted to this. I listened to it through, liked it, and that was that. I didn’t need to think about it or to mull, or even to hear it through a hundred times, although I have since played it rather a lot.  It just sits neatly in its little Arizona box and, without doing anything too dramatic, is simply a much appreciated addition to the canon of good solid indie records.
Songs like Don’t Have the Body or Balloon crop up here and there which are genuinely a cut above, and it seems that the more downbeat songs are where Arizona really excel. Some of the rockier numbers can be a little stodgy at times, but their slower songs are uniformly excellent.
For the most part this is simply a good straightforward album of enjoyable tunes, some nice riffs and plenty to hum along to.
Arizona – Don’t Have the Body
Arizona – Colors
i like the sound of these 2 songs….kinda Band of Horsesy
Awww Matthew! Thanks for the shout out, but most of all thanks for promoting this awesome band. You really, honestly gotta hear them live. Like I told ya, turn this album up LOUD and imagine this intricate sound really big and fun. It’s amazing how sometimes energy comes across on recordings and how sometimes it doesn’t. I have to say, this album hints at it here and there. The show I saw was unexpected and really just fun. And you know I’m not an indie fan by any means so that speaks for itself. It was a magical night and speaking with some of the band afterward made it all the more special, what a great group of guys. (I kinda promised them you’d throw them up here, whew! Thanks!)
And yeah, “Colors” is simply beautiful. Hope they make it over there across the pond soon so you can see!
carpet munching, indeed! You, sir, have no class! pffft
i’m so glad you’re covering them matthew! they are my favorite band right now…ben from this band sang on “get the fever out” on our new album that’ll be out in april….btw can’t wait to get you a copy of that in the near future
ya know, there isn’t always a carpet. sometimes the floor is sanded.
tmi? that’s my job.
Sam – anything you can get me is likely to meet with a thunderous ovation in this part of the internetz. No wonder their vocal harmonies were so rich. What’s the situation with your recordings, if you don’t mind me asking?
I’m really enjoying these guys too…nice find.
matthew–we’ve finished our full length album “songs in the night” and right now it’s gettin’ all nice and pretty (mastered, artwork, pressed, etc)…the official release date for it will be april 28th but i’m sure we’ll be getting to a copy to review before then
Brilliant. I’ll be really looking forward to that one.
[...] favourite Samantha Crain has been making telling us about the progress on her new album, over on this thread about Arizona. She has thins excellent news to [...]
mmm Samantha Crain, best young singer I’ve ever met (although I also am lovin’ on brandi carlisle), let alone sang with! She’s so fantastic. Thanks for the kind words about Arizona by the way =)
Perfectly welcome – I really enjoyed the album.