Arc & Stones – Arc & Stones EP

Arc & Stones rises to the challenge that almost any New York City rock band faces today post-2007: holding onto the glimmer hope that a four-piece band can create...
Arc & Stones : Arc & Stones EP
7.7 Self-released
2013 

Arc & Stones : Arc & Stones EPArc & Stones rises to the challenge that almost any New York City rock band faces today post-2007: holding onto the glimmer hope that a four-piece band can create something different that will survive the ever-expanding music scene.  Fortunately, these New York City transplants proved with their self-titled EP (and a little help from a Craigslist drummer) that there is still a chance for up-and-coming indie rock bands.

From the opening track “Silence”, Arc & Stones made sure the listener would remember that they are ‘original,’ and that they are here to rock. The bluesy feel echoed from vocalist/rhythm guitarist Dan Pellarin as he bellows the chorus’ lyrics with a tinge of southern drawl. In tandem with the drawl, lead guitarist Ben Cramer wails on his guitar a riff carrying both rhythmical and melodic weight on its shoulders. Almost slamming itself on the listener with an intensive crescendo of sound, the song prevents its audience from thinking or speaking, just listening in utter silence to the music.

From the opening track “Silence”, Arc & Stones made sure the listener would remember that they are ‘original,’ and that they are here to rock.  The bluesy feel echoed from vocalist/rhythm guitarist Dan Pellarin as he bellows the chorus’ lyrics with a tinge of southern drawl.  In tandem with the drawl, lead guitarist Ben Cramer wails on his guitar a riff carrying both rhythmical and melodic weight on its shoulders.  Almost slamming itself on the listener with an intensive crescendo of sound, the song prevents its audience from thinking or speaking, just listening in utter silence to the music.

Following the explosion of “Silence”, “Say Goodbye” offers a slower, more developed sensation within the listeners.  Pellarin places the audience member in a confusing temporal state, one he reflects in his lyrics: “Under all these emotions / One thing I’ll never let go / There’s just no way I’ll say goodbye.”  The lyrics exhibit the song’s narrator’s state of conflict, unable to completely relinquish himself from the situation.  Akin to this mental conflict, the song’s textures and tempos bounce around, shifting haphazardly from the softer acoustic sounds and slower tempos to the raunchier, faster electric sound.  In the end, the listener faces a masochistic confusion, as does the song’s narrator: both of which can only experience salvation via the song’s ending, something neither of them truly want to do.

Returning to the true blues rock sound heard on “Silence”, the final tracks, “She’s Mine” and “Rise” epitomize the genre.  The jumpy intro guitar rhythm on the former preps the listener for the auditory roller coaster ride he’s about to experience.  As Pellarin blood-curdling cries, “Mineeeee / Mineeee / Running through my blood / Not too sure if I’m alive,” the listener finds himself spiraling down alongside this emotionally powerful vocalist.  The ferocity built up by the previous track finally peaks at the close of the EP.  Cranking up the distortion and dynamics, the band unleashes pure power on “Rise”, enough for the listener to find himself restraining himself from letting go and head banging along to the song.  In the end, the listener becomes immersed in the track; he will find himself once again stunned and speechless as the power fades out, bringing this epic of an EP to a close.

Arc & Stones – Rise

 

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