I gushed about the greatness of Extra Arms' Headacher three times last year—including a spot on my list of 2018 Year-End Favorites—so I was rather excited to learn that the group will be issuing the eight-song, 22-minute follow-up, Up From Here, on October 25 through Dadstache Records in the U.S. and Get Party! Records in Canada. In fact, you can already pre-order from the band (LP or digital), Dadstache (LP or cassette), and Get Party! (LP or digital)! Vinyl will be limited to 300 copies with gold/silver foil matte covers with an embossed logo, so... don't sleep!
Like Headacher before it, Up From Here delivers power poppin' alt.-rock gold in spades. Every song's a keeper, and I'm thrilled to premiere the inspirative title track below (check out "No Enemies" on Bandcamp for further proof):
Vocalist/guitarist/founder Ryan Allen had the following to say about the tune:
Many of the songs on our new album deal with anger, pain, confusion, and—ultimately—loss... but "Up From Here"—the final track—aims to find positivity and hope in the aftermath. I wrote the song about something very specific, but the intention was for the song to be able to appeal to anybody who has gone through something painful, but is searching for a way to come out on the other side with new perspective and can (to quote R.E.M.) "begin the begin." It may sound fairly obvious, but when you hit a low, there's nowhere else to go but up, and that's the message I was trying to convey with this song.
Besides being the most uplifting song on the record, it's also really special to us as a band because it features our friend Chris Hatfield, from the band Love Axe, on piano; as well as our buddy Ian Fowles—better known as Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk, from The Aquabats—on lead guitar. Chris adds some tasty piano licks to the song that class it up and make it move, and Ian adds a borderline insane guitar solo at the end that takes the song to new heights. Both were perfect additions to a track that we hoped would dramatically and triumphantly close out the album in style.
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Pre-order Up From Here through the band (LP or digital), Dadstache Records (LP or cassette), or Get Party! Records (LP or digital). Catch Extra Arms live with Hot Snakes at Small's in Hamtramck, MI on 9/12; or at the Up From Here release show at Bowlero in Royal Oak, MI on 11/2.
