Einstein Music Journal

White Arrows

Saturday, December 15, 2007

New Yorkers by way of LA, White Arrows are a little-known but catchy, fun, exciting group. Their riffing on new wave, dusty lo-fi exemplified on 'City Boy' may leave something to be desired at first, but by around verse 3/chorus 2 they'll have you in a grasp of excitement as tight as their sweet pop hooks.

I got wind of these guys on Nylon magazine's blog, Spacey Tracy; their oddly-angled portraits and wavy quiffed hair caught my eye. Soon after I was drawn to their MySpace (such are the wonderful ways of the internet!) and my ears were summoned to their songs.

Lo and behold, the band really delivered! Tasteful, haunting riffs bend and twist through 'The Voyeur', as Mickey Schiff's angst-ridden, thinly disguised vocals give a hint of despair, howling "There you go/ walkin' round with your boyfriend". But this bittersweet sound is masked gloriously by Evan Koga's catchy, sweet guitars and their cute, impeccable drums, all mounting up to quite-possibly-perfect alt-pop music!

There are also echoes of Devendra Banhart in '80 50', but the bass is too tight and too conventionally root-note based in classic 4/4 pop structure for Banhart's possé. The Strokes-esque guitar picking and Rooney-ish organ/keyboard stabs on the same song also probe further familiar ground, but White Arrows' is a fresh take.

A fun, interesting and pleasant listen, White Arrows is also a challenging one at that. Trying to spot the influences while listening to the teaser songs for their upcoming album on MySpace is nigh on impossible! I, for one, can't wait to hear a full length offering from this savvy trio. The breakdown in '80 50' is particularly fun.

posted by Sarah Gooding @ 1:05 pm