Arkells @ Pianos

Vaguely delirious from SXSW, I wandered in a daze to Piano's last night, my brain going through a withdrawal. I had scanned the LES bars, and Arkells have this great single called "John Lennon." Good enough for me - that and I imagine R. Kelly's mates affectionately nick-naming him something similar. Arkells are from Ontario, and they rocked the tough 7:00 pm slot admirably. Their music, aptly classified on MySpace, is 1/3 Soul, 2/3 Rock with a very classic rock songwriting savvy. If it had a 6th gear it would be ELO-esque. As it is it is much more hard rockin' than experimental. The front man, Max does look a bit like Jeff Lynne though, which when I squinted, put me into a nice temporary time-warp. He jerks and moves much more erratically than Lynne though, so as he tumbled out of my periphery, I was brought back to the present - though not an unpleasant arrival, I assure you. They put on a great live show, and New York is a tough crowd. My ears are still ringing a little though; Pianos definitely likes their shows at 11.

"John Lennon" by Arkells Download mp3 (with permission)