Arc In Round is a Philadelphia four-piece comprised of Jeff Zeigler, Mikele Edwards, Josh Meakim and Matt Ricchini and was formed three years ago after the end of the shoegaze project Relay. And guess what? Here we have a band which seemed to know exactly what my ears were thirsting for.
Arc In Round has the lush melodic sensibility of Broadcast, the noise-poppy approach of Serena-Maneesh and at the same time their own chaotic bliss. The shoegaze influences are apparent on their self-titled debut, but luckily far from too dominant, as they are carefully dipped into a mix of multiple layers, intense sonic guitars and repetitive kraut rhythms. And I should also mention: disturbing noises and surprising tempo shifts which adds character.
They are at their most intense and their best during the second half of this record where I have handed out Spotify stars to almost every song from ‘Hallowed’ and out. The only songs making this a less engaging experience are the overly melody-crowded ‘One-Sided’ and ‘Spirit’.
But my ears are thirsting for more, because not only is this a very well crafted debut release; Arc In Round has put their own sound on the musical map. And they managed doing so inside a genre where it’s so easy to become just another dreamy sounding act disappearing into a big shoegazey atmosphere where you can hardly distinguish the who’s who? and the what’s what?
They are Arc In Round.
I will follow.
Released October 8th on La Société Expéditionnaire.
Posted by Bjarte Edvardsen.
