In the back of a building that houses a plumbing supply shop, not too far from downtown Athens, GA, is a space where, according to the guys in the Arcs, the "magic happens." If you are thinking of rotating heart-shaped water beds, chilled Chablis, and bear-skin rugs, you should instead visualize cobwebs, flood damage, worn speaker cabinets, a water closet--sans closet, and a rusted AC window unit hanging precariously on a questionable particle board "window frame." And there are amps. Lots of amps stacked up along every wall of the room. It is here that the Arcs began and where they continue to hone their songs to a sharp point. ! In its almost spartan condition, this space speaks to the approach of this four piece band whose pop tendencies live in concert with their rock tendencies . "Ben and I will show up with these very pop-oriented songs that take on a whole new direction once we plug in,” guitarist Kevin Lane says. "To put it simply, pop songs, rock band.” The guys nod in agreement and then bassist Brandon Reynolds adds, "All of us have our own backgrounds and tendencies and they work really well together. Then you add an environment like this one, and you kind of add an edge to everything." When you take that edge, the hooks, and then add some time signature manipulations, it is easy to compare the band to their space: not too nice, not too pretty, not too comfortable.
Further evidence of the band's aesthetic can be found on the 7" single released by Analogue Records. The artwork is strictly black and white, which is certainly an indication of the no- nonsense approach taken for the song choice and recording of the single. Additionally, there is no A-side, or B-side, there isn't even a front or back cover. "We are very lucky to have two extremely strong songwriters in this band." Drummer Dave Gerow states. "As a result, we didn't want one guy to be put out in front of the other, so we decided to let the consumers decide which was side-A and which was side-B. The way we saw it, both songs were hits, so how could we lose?"
! Since the single was released, the Arcs have been working on the development of new material that will be used for their first full length release. Will this full length tend more toward the pop or more towards the rock? The guys grumble (I'm pretty sure I heard a "harrumph!") and guitarist Ben Spraker states unequivocally, "That really isn't something we are going to try to plan out. As a band, we write songs that we like, and we all like different types of things. Being able to follow our inspirations without regard for genre is part of our original intent--to do what we want to do." "But like we said before," Lane chimes in, "how poppy and pretty can a song be after being worked up in a crapper without walls?”