THE ARRIVALS
“Volatile Molotov”
(Recess Records)
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Chicago’s THE ARRIVALS are back with Volatile Molotov, the anticipated follow-up to 2007’s Marvels of Industry. The melodic working-class punks excel at writing upbeat, sunny, just plain fun songs laced with contrasting lyrics that, for the most part, are pretty serious and critical of society, as on “Positively Wall Street,” “The Dilemma,” “Two Years,” and “Front Line,” making for an interesting combination. Other impressive tracks include “New Gold Standard,” a veritable beatdown of watered-down bands who are more about just making money and garnering popularity than the true art of it all; the superb “Children’s Crusade;” and the bouncy “Blank Slate,” which concludes with the affecting lines, “All things real really do fade away.” The band end it all with a more “positive one,” “Simple Pleasures in America,” an insanely catchy, put-a-smile-on-your-face number which has the entire band singing some lyrics. The only moment on the record that’s on the sub-par side is the penultimate track “Envelope Song,” which is way too hokey for this reviewer’s taste. (JJ)
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