Crazy Arm – “Born To Ruin”

I recently penned an article in which I implied that Crazy Arm might be the saviours of British rock’n'roll. The wonderful thing about those little snapshot pieces is that it gives you a space to vent some of the adrenaline rush you get when you find a new band doing great work. In the wake of that piece, it seems that now is as good a time as any to turn a more critical ear to the south coast four-piece’s full-length debut, Born To Ruin.

A good bassline can cover all manner of sins – or, in the absence of any such transgressions, add that extra layer of awesome to a song. Born to Ruin opener “Asphalt” falls into the latter camp: Tim Rowing-Parker’s slick groove running seamlessly into a razor-sharp guitar melody, rounded off with a killer refrain.

“Still To Keep”, meanwhile, is something of a bafflement; a nice tune ruined by an assortment of Fall Out Boy-esque ‘ooooh’ and ‘oh yeah’ vocalisations from frontman Darren Johns. These little pop-punk flourishes recur at other moments in the record, though never again as obtrusively. “Kith and Kingdom” opens with a bizarre gospel chorus, but by the time the prog undertones of the chorus are ringing in your ears it’s unclear whether this is the same song, and it hardly seems to matter.

This is an incredibly tight debut from a very versatile band: from “Blind Summit”‘s too-easy Flogging Molly parallels to the erratic time-signatures and anthemic chorus of “Broken By The Wheel”, Crazy Arm seem determined to pursue a more daring musical agenda than many of their contemporaries. At every turn, they shrug off all expectations and twist the sound into whatever shape they feel like – and when it works, it’s brilliant.

Lyrically mature and vocally powerful (Darren Johns at times sounds so hoarse and unbridled* that you can practically hear the lesions forming on his vocal cords),  Born To Ruin doesn’t sit still for a moment; doesn’t let you think too deeply or take stock of exactly what you’re hearing. Technically capable and unerringly original, Crazy Arm prove refreshingly innovative in a scene prone to prosaicism.

Our Arbitrary Numerical Verdict:
  

* Yes, we noticed the phrase ‘hoarse and unbridled’. Pun intended – Ed.

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Snapshot: Crazy Arm