Broken Arm - Negative EP

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

5...according to our Ant on Thu 28 Apr, 2011.

Seems like it's been a while since we've had anything in from Nottingham's Gringo records so I'm pleased this Broken Arm 7" has finally arrived. For those of you unfamiliar with the band, they are a four piece from Leeds who's members have previously played with the likes of Sailors, Woman, Like A Kind Of Matador and The Static Waves. Their music is kinda scratchy and sharp like all good garage rock acts but they've got the muscle of a hardcore band hence they exist somewhere between these two worlds. Part early Rock From The Crypt, part Black Flag, if you know what I'm saying. 'Negative' features three aggressive, pedal-to-the-metal (haven't used this phrase in a review before - hope you like it), party numbers on the A-side, all of which are awesome. Flip it over and you get a brooding beast of a number entitled 'House Rules' that touches on 'My War' era Flag whilst also flirting with the possibility of psychedelia. Recorded by Matt J (of the soon-to-better-known psychedelic rock band Hookworms) 'Negative' certainly sounds a little rough and rugged but that all adds to the charm of these recordings and very much suits the bands aesthetic. Amazing 7". Comes highly recommended by all the lads at Normans...without question...

Broken Arm are a punk group from Leeds, deepest, darkest West Yorkshire. The question is, what kind of punk group? Or indeed, what kind of punks? There are many. It’s confusing. Although they have short hair and are known to wear check shirts, they have no affinity with straight edge. Although they like dogs and lager, they don’t appear to be crusties either. It might well be that they are four fairly anonymous individuals who occasionally crawl out from under their respective rocks and meet up on a Friday night to play an aggressive mixture of garage rock and uncouth 80s-style noise rock in a way that sounds… not quite like any other group. A few fairly serviceable attempts at describing their sound by referencing other artists will certainly help listeners in their comprehension: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion as played by Black Flag; Billy Childish as played by The Jesus Lizard; Spacemen 3 as played by Brainbombs. They don’t sound as good as any of these three possibilities might be, of course, but they do sound very good in their own way. You might recognise their members from other groups they’ve appeared in which do not sound at all like Broken Arm: Guitarist Guy is a member of snappy, funky post-punk group Woman. Vocalist Nick and bass player Hugues were in the abrasive post-punk group Sailors. Drummer Tom was in the deceptively successful “world metal” group Like a Kind of Matador, although was always inclined towards playing more like Helmet’s John Stanier. Negative is their debut 7” and consists of three short, sharp stabs and one hot, slow rodding.