Arkarna – Fresh Meat

One of those total puzzlers in the Pop world. At the time of release Arkarna were tipped for great things. Fusing great Indie song writing sensibilities with electronic beats and all manner of studio effects and trickery their debut which was heralded by two great singles - in my neighbourhood at least - was impossible to find. It then turns up in every bargain bin shop the world over. Having enjoyed the singles I took punt on the album for $1-00 and considered it one of the best bucks I have spent. Great listening album that spans so many genres. The opener House-On-Fire will move any dance floor and i like its beats juxtaposed with indie vocals. So Little time is as if Green Day had taken too many E's and I love it. Born Yesterday Part 1 is breaks driven dream pop but its follow-up is a great Dub out downtempo exercise that could have easily come from Primal Scream. Peace of mind has a dreamy intro but flips into a stomping breaks driven dance tune with highly dubbed vocals. Stereo Effects herald the vocal which is club gold. Peace of Mind, Peace for Mankind. Pitched down it grooves my house driven dance floors and more often than not gets a rush going when its distorted acid line kicks in. Direct Dubbit is back to what I think is the backbone of the Arkarna sound breaks led noise pop. The closer though R.U.Ready is an epic techno banger that Underworld would be proud of. When ever drop this at gigs it blows the roof off and gets lots of enquiries as to its originators. For the 99c the CD cost me it has to be one of the best bang-for-buck finds in my arsenal... Enjoy and be able to say 'told you so' :-)