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Why not ring in your weekend with 'Feeling Alright,' the new single by Detroit-based power pop band Extra Arms. It's a short punk blast with a Randy Rhodes-esque lead from guitarist Michael Gallacher, taken off the band's forthcoming LP, 'What Is Even Happening Right Now?'.
"In January of 2020 I went on a work retreat and stayed at an airbnb. There was a weird-looking heavy-metal style acoustic guitar with one of those intimidating headstocks hanging on the wall. Like the introvert I am, I would grab it over the course of the couple days of being on the trip and hide in a room and play," says singer/guitarist/songwriter Ryan Allen about the song's origins. "Ric Ocasek had just died a few months earlier so I was thinking a lot about the Cars and how economic their songs were. Simple chords, mostly palm-muted guitars, with great melodies and really cool synth flourishes for added counter-melodies and color. So I kept messing with this chord structure on the trip that was super simple, and kept singing 'Are you feeling alright?' in a hiccupy, Ocasek-style vocal on top. In a way this song shaped the vibe of a lot of the record, as it has an element of playfulness that we wanted to be present on the record. As a bonus, the recording is elevated by two synth wizards adding their flair to it - my brother Scott Allen of Thunderbirds Are Now! programed the intro and Chris Hatfield of Love Axe added the Greg Hawkes-esq keys to the bulk of the song. It turned out exactly as we had hoped."
Making this album was no small feat seeing as it was created in the era of social distance. Demos were made. Files were shared. Zoom calls were had. Masked-up band members convened in small numbers at engineer Chuck Huber’s Drifting Sun Studios. Tracks were captured there or flown in from home. Experiments were conducted. Bass parts were recorded in comfy pants. Oh, and we can’t forget the guests: Matthew Caws from Nada Surf, Bob Nanna from Braid/Hey Mercedes, Gregory Macdonald from Sloan, Lily Paul from the Plastic Beach, Scott Allen from Thunderbirds Are Now!, Chris Hatfield from Love Axe and saxophonist Matt Jones can all be found in the fibers of this album. All that was left was for Paul Miner (New Found Glory, Thrice, Touche Amore) to mix, master, and stick a fork in it.
'What Is Even Happening Right Now?' will be out via Forge Again records on June 3, 2022. You can pre-order the album here.