Weird Twitter—that corner of the social messaging service devoted to absurd internet humor—deals in levels of irony to offset the “sincere” tone of corporate Twitter accounts. The New York-based pop punks in Arm Candy, whose first, eponymous album sports cover art by Weird Twitter celebrity Leon Chang (@leyawn), are equally immersed in life’s absurdity.
The album, which clocks in at just under twenty minutes, is a driving nugget of pop punk. Every second on Arm Candy approaches the maximum loudness on a SoundCloud histogram. Recorded by Swearin’s Kyle Gilbride—the man behind recent albums by Waxahatchee, Girlpool, Radiator Hospital, and All Dogs, among others—the album has a warm, fuzzy punch. That tone holds space for Nathan Arm (also of techno act Puppy Cops) and the other nervous kids in Arm Candy to take on the towering personal and political problems that come about when you exist in the world.
Rapid-fire power chords, guitar solos, and snare fills back the dense lyrical content, thematizing the band’s energy and winking chagrin. On single and album highlight “Lounge Lizard”, bassist Kate Molasses, who also plays guitar with the femme punks in Honeysuck, sings that she’ll “come to your house/to drown the world out.” That could well be Arm Candy’s mission statement. The world is a vexing place, and pop-punk may not clear anything up, but its underdog champions fight as hard as anyone to face it head on.
You can pre-order Arm Candy, which will release on June 8, through Sheffield’s Tye Die Tapes, and catch the exclusive stream below.
Upcoming shows:
June
05 Brooklyn at 603 Upstairs w/ Staring Problem, Telepathic, Fern Mayo, and Glueboy
21 Brooklyn at Palisades w/ RVIVR, War on Women, Rips
26 Brookyn at Alphaville w/ Pill, Los Cripis, Fungi Girls
Tour:
July
31 Brooklyn at Silent Barn w/ Blizzard Babies, Honey Radar
August
01 Boston w/ Ursula, Palehound, Laika’s Orbit, Bad Boys
02 Northampton w/ Laika’s Orbit, Honeysuck venue TBD
03 Philly w/ The Goodbye Party venue TBD
