The five members of Arms Exploding are very serious about making music, and it shows.
The sounds emanating from Ruminari, the band’s debut album for the local Phratry label, are intense and harrowing, a melodic Post Punk/Prog cacophony of double clutch drumming, heart attack bass, delicately thrashing guitars and unhinged vocals. And their songs are inspired by the shallow conceits of the cosmetics industry (“Dancing Lepers”), compulsion (“Cross-Border Tunnels”), father issues (“Measure of a Man”) and morality struggles (“Cupertino”), among other sobering topics.
“I try to think of things that basically upset me,” says lead vocalist Nick Thompson of his passionate lyrical themes. “I’m not going to scream about going out to get ice cream with my grandma.”
The quintet is less serious when it comes to talking about themselves. In the spare comfort of Thompson’s Norwood living room, the quintet begins the interview by interviewing themselves.
Read the full interview here.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2008.