The Arcs – Electrophonic Chronic (2023) [FLAC 24bit/48kHz]

The Arcs – Electrophonic Chronic (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 38:49 minutes | 464 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Easy Eye Sound

Eight years after their debut album, The Arcs present their second long player with “Electrophonic Chronic”.

For independent newcomer bands such a long break directly after the first sign of life would probably be unfortunate to deadly. But The Arcs are not a “regular” new band, but consist of The Black Keys band boss Dan Auerbach and various protagonists of the retro-soul scene around the New York label Daptone Records.

Together they already made highly pleasing psych-pop with elements of garage rock and 60s soul on “Yours, Dreamily”. Thanks to Dan Auerbach’s voice and his production not too far away from his main band. Just thanks to broader instrumentation even more varied in the sound picture.

This has not changed on “Electrophonic Chronic”, which is not surprising, since all songs and recordings come from the same extensive sessions from 2015. It pays off when three of five band members run their own studio and together you can record every idea professionally for eternity.As part of his lifelong tour dusting off chunks of the past, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys has made a second album with his excellent side band The Arcs—following up 2015’s Yours, Dreamily with another “neo-psychedelic soul-rock odyssey.” (Though it comes after the death of drummer Richard Swift from complications of chronic alcoholism in 2018, Electrophonic Chronic was primarily recorded beforehand so that Swift is, gloriously, all over the record.) The Arcs tend to get pigeonholed as “garage rock” (that catchall for much of Auerbach’s personal work), but there is so, so much more to this. Call it heresy, but it must be said that the spaced-out soul of “Heaven Is a Place” is almost Prince-like, with red-hot guitar and Auerbach hitting some deliciously nasty “oohs.” “Rollin’ through the clouds/ Lean back in my dove white Cadillac/ Just cruisin’ slow/ Heaven is a place I know where all the lovers go,” he sings. He plays old-school crooner on “Eyez,” with its slow-cruising rollercoaster of bass and synth. “River” is David Ruffin-esque and layers on shimmering, tentative Hammond B3—courtesy of Leon Michels—for a dose of drama; “A Man Will Do Wrong” is Miracles-smooth with its Motown romance and harmonies. Reeking of woozy B3 and a hit of flute, “Backstage Mess” evokes doo-wop’s shuffle-and-shoop. Detroit is not the only reference, as you can hear plenty of Memphis Stax soul—that extra-heart wrenching, drunk on the blues style—on “Only One for Me.” Punched up by spritely glockenspiel, it’s a lonely-boy love song with a twist: “I got a feeling I’m the only one for me.” After all, Auerbach sings, “No one’s ever made me feel much better/ Stay with me through all the stormy weather.” “Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” meanwhile, loops in haunted mellotron for its pragmatic plea for peace in the wake of a break-up: “We should take care of one another/ Not destroy each other … What are we fighting for?/ Love doesn’t live here anymore.” Bright and ’70s laid-back “Sunshine” lives up to its name thanks to a childish “sha la la” bridge and punch-drunk horns that will crack open your heart. Offering an intriguing left turn, “Behind the Eyes” mixes vintage soul and an almost The Band shamble, proving that soulfulness is all over the place. – Shelly Ridenour

Tracklist:

1-1. The Arcs – Keep On Dreamin’ (04:26)
1-2. The Arcs – Eyez (03:40)
1-3. The Arcs – Heaven Is A Place (04:49)
1-4. The Arcs – Califone Interlude (01:16)
1-5. The Arcs – River (03:27)
1-6. The Arcs – Sunshine (02:56)
1-7. The Arcs – A Man Will Do Wrong (04:17)
1-8. The Arcs – Behind The Eyes (04:09)
1-9. The Arcs – Backstage Mess (01:47)
1-10. The Arcs – Sporting Girls Interlude (00:17)
1-11. The Arcs – Love Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (03:45)
1-12. The Arcs – Only One For Me (03:56)

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