Artist: Crazy Arm
Title: Born To Ruin
Label: Xtra Mile
Genre: Rock
Bitrate: 184kbit av.
Time: 00:49:25
Size: 68.43 mb
Rip Date: 2009-05-20
Str Date: 2009-06-08
01. Asphalt 4:59
02. Still To Keep 4:00
03. Blind Summit 4:16
04. Desire Lines 4:17
05. Born To Ruin 5:37
06. Broken By The Wheel 4:26
07. Henry Fabian Flynn 3:59
08. International Front 4:03
09. Kith And Kingdom 3:48
10. Reassure Me 3:45
11. Christ In Concrete 6:15
Release Notes:
Ask anyone and they'll tell you that Plymouth hard-twang roots-punks,
Crazy Arm's debut album has been a long time coming. Not through want
of trying, of course. In late-2006 the band headed into a local studio
to bang an album into shape. A year later, and with an arsenal of new
songs, they decided to scrap the recordings and start again. Another
year later, and with another clutch of new songs, they reluctantly
called a halt to proceedings and started afresh, for the third time,
with Peter Miles (Sonic Boom Six, The King Blues, Failsafe) at the
controls. The fact that his newly assembled studio was only 20 miles up
the road, in the middle of a beautiful forest that backed onto
Dartmoor, sweetened the deal somewhat.
The result is 'Born To Ruin'. A debut album that sounds nothing like it
would have done three years ago when the band were still in the
embryonic stages, and perhaps nothing like it would have done if it
hadn't been recorded in such idyllic surroundings, where pheasants
strolled around the grounds and vegan curries were mandatory. Not easy
to categorise, and all the better for it, 'Born To Ruin' is an aural
accumulation of years and years of influence and inspiration: rooted in
hardcore/punk, '60s protest folk and timeless rock'n'roll. Of course,
you may not actually hear the likes of Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin,
Hu"sker Du", Crass or Gene Vincent but it╞s all in there somewhere,
adding weight and depth to songs that are as different from each other
as they are from any other self-proclaimed punk band you care to
mention.
But make no mistake. This is still a punk rock record. In the same way
that 'London Calling' by The Clash, 'The Argument' by Fugazi and 'Under
The Fog' by The King Blues are punk rock records. They don't scream
their ideas at you, they're steeped in inventive melodies, and they
spill over into many other styles but they are records that stand out
as punk classics because of, not in spite of, their willingness to
side-step punk stereotypes. For instance, 'Blind Summit' and 'Broken By
The Wheel' may be dynamic country-punk anthems - all slide guitars and
self-confession, but 'Christ In Concrete' and 'Asphalt' harness the
dark brooding tones of 16 Horsepower. 'Reassure Me' may pack a melodic
hardcore punch, but µInternational Front' - a slight upon imperialist
wars - and 'Henry Fabian Flynn' pay tribute to the protest song of Dick
Gaughan, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, et al. Elsewhere, live favourites like
the galloping 'Still To Keep' call to mind the sub-pop sensibilities of
Ted Leo or The Replacements, while the title track, and album
centre-piece, is an epic celebration of history's conscientious
trouble-makers that wouldn't have sounded out of place on 'Physical
Graffiti'. All told, 'Born To Ruin' is an embarrassment of riches full
of stories told from a grass-roots perspective. And for a debut album,
it's something of a true revelation.