dBmagazine.com.au

CDs:
· Wolfmother
(We liked it and you will too!)

· Audio Bullys
· Bob Dylan
· Broadcast
· Broken Spindles
· The Cloud Room
· Crazy Frog
· Damn Arms
· The Darkness
· Depeche Mode
· INXS
· Jade MacRae
· Kronos Quartet featuring Asha Bhosle
· The Monsters
· Mythica
· Raven Black Night
· The Scare
· T.A.T.U.

Live:
· Behind Crimson Eyes
· Damn Arms
· The Goodies
· Michael Kieran Harvey
· The Silvermine Tapes
· Tex, Don & Charlie
· Wolfmother

Damn Arms
Patterns
UniKron/Timberyard/Independant

Damn Arms are a Melbourne band who have formed from the remnants of Snap!Crakk!, and there has been a marked shift in sound for this new incarnation. Where the former constructed quite sparse (comparatively) songs over robotic drum machine beats, Damn Arms spew forth a far more bombastic sound; the drum machines are gone, replaced with live drums and an altogether more convoluted approach.

Fuzzy bass and trebly synthesizer abound in 'Patterns', and there I get the feeling I have heard it all before. This is not so surprising if you consider that bands like The Killers and The Bravery (yuck) are off doing similar things, albeit in a really flaccid way. Damn Arms share similarities but are much better than those aforesaid; they actually have a bit of backbone and energy in their songs, yet they still are not attempting to challenge what is fast becoming a very recognisable style of music.

This being said, the songs on 'Patterns' are still quite good, even if they suffer a little from deja vu. There are echoes of punk and more than a little of The Cure, and at times the singer sounds like, I imagine, a pubescent Robert Smith would have. There is of course nothing wrong in referencing the music you love, and Damn Arms are up there referencing with the best of them. Plus, 'Patterns' has a really good cover.

Jack Wilde

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2008 Adelaide International Guitar Festival