The Arrest

For some reason, the Arrest recorded the majority of the debut in just four days last summer. That sort of speed could demonstrate either a great deal of focus and an incredible work ethic or the kind of budget that limits studio time. Just one listen to 01 goes a long way to answering which applies here. Luckily, they are smart enough to have picked at least a couple of decent bands on which to model themselves, namely Interpol and, to a lesser extent, Doves, or at least their finer moments, such as "The Surgeon's Wife," where they aren't afraid to stay in the gloomy starkness. But unfortunately, they aren't completely committed and drift towards less convincing stadium rock that sounds awkward. And their dalliance with acoustic balladry on "Transmission 02" is even more ill advised. Still, batting just under 500 for a debut isn't the end of the world for a first album, but they might be better advised to take their time and work on quality control for their next effort.