Extra Arms “Headacher”

The name Extra Arms should sound familiar to you as we’ve covered them under the previous moniker Ryan Allen And His Extra Arms. Ryan’s dropping of his name from the act must surely be a sign of how happy and confident he is in this band. Given how great his material has always been, then that must be a good thing.

Indeed, opener and title track “Headacher” shows that he certainly hasn’t lost his touch for writing great power pop songs. Together with tracks like “Old Heads” and “Til’ The Casket Drops” are just brilliant pop rock songs. They have that perfect blend of great catchy melodies but with just enough ‘crunch’ to stop them being too sweet.

“Done To Death” is just a rocking song, it takes what feels like a Beatles’ song and just rocks it up, whilst giving it a modern edge. Anyone who is a fan of the legendary Cheap Trick will just lap up songs like that one and  “Push The Button” or the slower, melody driven, “Honey Brown”.

Unlike some other power pop acts, there is also a deeper depth to some of these songs. That includes the glorious “Under Surveillance” which is still pop rock but has a more cinematic feel to it. There’s also a slightly more political, or at least observational, tone to the lyrics of “Ends Meet”. Mind you, they do say that s**t presidents result in great music!

This is a real feel good album, with songs like “You Make The Life You Want” just built for playing on warm sunny days. Heck, “Why I Run” almost makes us feel like grabbing our trainers and hitting the road!

This is an album that feels like a band that are really comfortable and confident with their material. And quite rightly so, you’ll struggle to find a more complete power pop album this year. Our only regret is that it wasn’t released earlier in the year. Having enjoyed a remarkably good early summer here in the UK, this would have been the perfect accompaniment.