‘DARK HANDS, THUNDERBOLTS’
FIRST ALBUM IN 7 YEARS –
RELEASED 29.02.2021 VIA XTRA MILE RECORDINGS
“Tales of alienation wrapped up in a succession of ferocious riffs… Crazy Arm’s curious hybrid of punk-infused attitude and rootsy folk has lost none of its aggression or ability to disarm” UNCUT (9/10)
“This genre-oblivious Devon octet infuse infectious irresistibility with punk energy, political bite, cinematic dynamism, Tex-Mex-ed Morricone Americana and a near-prog complexity. Staggeringly ambitious.”
CLASSIC ROCK
With their first album in 7 years just around the corner – CRAZY ARM – come together as one in a rousing new video for: “Fear Up”.
The third single to be lifted from ‘Dark Hands, Thunderbolts’ (out 29 Jan 2021, via Xtra Mile Recordings).
Created under the restrictive circumstances we find ourselves living in, the “Fear Up” video sees the collective defying the odds and pushing the limits to unite in one digital space. Featuring virtually all of the extended Crazy Arm family (13 of them!), the footage was filmed on location from their disparate bases in Devon, Dorset, West Yorkshire and Swansea and woven together here.
Speaking about the video Darren Johns of Crazy Arm says: “The moral of the story is ‘socially distant, mentally united’”.
Taking its title from “US military slang for the use of the spectre of violence to keep citizens submissive and afraid”, “Fear Up” is a brooding and vengeful disposition, and not for the faint hearted. Epic of sound and cinematic in scale, “Fear Up” erupts from the speakers like Ennio Morricone conducting the Constantines. From its gunslinging opening guitar lines, to its stentorious rallying cries and palpitating drum rolls, “Fear Up” gallops towards a blazing Mariachi brass inflected finale courtesy of the genius that is Simon Dobson on trumpet.
The track arrives hot on the heels of the hard-hitting polito-punk of recent single ‘The Golden Hind’, which alongside ‘Brave Starts Here’ pave the way for their long awaited fourth album: ‘Dark Hands, Thunderbolts’. Their first new music in seven long years, it’s a record that promises a return to the rowdy guitars, epic choruses and Americana twang of their first two albums. Though much has changed since they’ve been away, expect a band in reflective, but no less indignant mood.
Speaking about the band’s long awaited return, Darren adds:
“We may be 15 years old now (and more of a fluid collective than a band), and the twin troughs of Covid and Brexit may have scuppered all our best laid tour plans, but we’re not done yet! We hope ‘Dark Hands, Thunderbolts’ makes this current colossal sh**show a little easier to bear. Here’s to the unwritten future.”
Guaranteed to be worth the wait, ‘Dark Hands, Thunderbolts’ is a sonic and emotional rollercoaster ride that upends expectations at every turn. Latest single, “Fear Up” is out now.
CRAZY ARM – NEW ALBUM: ‘DARK HANDS, THUNDERBOLTS’ – OUT 29TH JANUARY 2021 VIA XTRA MILE RECORDINGS – BUY HERE
AND LIMITED EDITION BLACK OR WHITE VINYL WITH EMBOSSED SLEEVE ON 19TH MARCH 2021
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