Ar-Kaics, The – See the World on Fire – New LP

The Ar-Kaics are back with See the World on Fire, their first new album in six years. Expect eight new tunes of dark, moody, rollicking garage psych not altogether dissimilar from their previous output. What you get here is the next chapter. All written and recorded in singer-guitarist Johnny’s bedroom / garage (pictured on the album cover), it’s a concept album based on the concept of making an album—on their own, from the brink. But don’t just take our word for it…

“The Ar-Kaics out of Virginia are pretty groovy. They got THAT sound, man.”
- Marc Maron

“What could possibly have possessed these seasoned vets peppered throughout the Commonwealth (a region philosophically averse to light pollution) to paint it all even blacker? Where have all the good times gone, and how? When that '60s clang-n-fuzz gets too much humidity on it, that swamp-heavy "let's go get stoned" midnight choir to the black vacuum of electric hum at the hour only the birds and paw-paws are listening and the true believers among us can unbottle some secrets to the stars above... you get this album. So many third-wave garage juggernauts always kept the shtick secured in their pocket protectors. Even Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs’ emotional investment translated directly to their market parameters. No risks, no rewards, no 4th walls and no 5th columns. Great shit, but who's feeling? This album calls the bluff on the whole genre—a Hail Mary by dudes who've used and been used by the entanglement. There was always a suspension of disbelief to the cathartic hokiness, and this is the ultimate trump card. They still believe in music, and you can too. In the intersections of love and trust and money and hope, we're all crosstown traffic, and if there aren't marks on your back, pat it. You'll hear echoes of Lou and Neil and Keith, but there's no indication what part of the woods they're coming from. It's music from where they went on occasion, mapless. Music from the other side. A land free of time.”
- Brandon Gaffney

“Love over gold.”
- Don Van Vliet