Crikey.
You talk about great homegrown releases of 2010 and if ‘Dead Sea’ isn’t up there come the end of the year then I’m The Pope. ‘Blood, Sweat and Beers’ was a very good album, but ‘Dead Sea’ is simply a great album. It mixes up the vocal melodies of a band like Captain Everything with the choruses of a band like The Descendents and the pace and aggression of a band like The Mercury League. There are 13 songs on this record and every single one is a winner – from the soaring vocal melodies of opener ‘Capture The Flag’ to the crazy intro riff to ‘Acoustic Associations’, every song is brilliant.
What I like about this record is that there’s plenty of variety. ‘Acoustic Associations’ sounds a little like Gaslight Anthem for me, while ‘Turn of the Tide’ is much more rock and roll with a real swagger and pace to it. I guess The Bronx would be a pretty good reference point. No matter the influence, The Arteries have a confidence and an ability to just write fucking great songs and great choruses that will stick in your head for a long, long time afterwards. It’s a ballsy record with attitude – and I love it. I’m pretty sure you will too. You know what to do…