★★★★★
Release Date: April 17, 2012 This is how it should always be. Michigan Left, the sophomore album from Canadian rock quintet Arkells is everything that's right about rock music: swagger, energy, passion. The Juno Award-winning group's 10-song effort is air-tight with nary a dud. Album opener "Book Club," is buoyant, bright and undeniably brilliant. With shades of Springsteen, there's a charisma and confidence at work here that's hard to shake...
- absolutepunk.net
2012-04-26
★★★★★
Following the success of their 2008 debut, Jackson Square, which had Arkells touring with the likes of Pearl Jam and Them Crooked Vultures, the Ontario indie rockers garnered acclaim for their energetic live shows. Michigan Left, the band's second full-length album, is an attempt to capture that stage show on record. For the most part it works...
- www.glidemagazine.com
2012-04-23
★★★★★
Dan Griffin has detailed Arkells' sophomore album Michigan Left with the sonic complexity of a live performance. While recording at legendary Bathouse Studio in Kingston, Ontario, the keyboardist/producer had one apparent intention--capture the live-off-the-floor moments he'd experienced within the quintet during their 2011 tour that took them across America to SXSW, up the coast and back to Maine...
- www.pastemagazine.com
2012-04-19
★★★★★
Sound: "Michigan Left" marks a slight change from "Jackson Square", this album seems brighter, and includes more synth sounds than the previous one. "Michigan Left" has a smooth sound, less aggressive than the previous efforts, but still maintains Arkells signature sound. There isn't a bad song on the album and all of them feature danceable choruses that will be sure to get a crowd going...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2012-04-12
★★★★★
To keep it short and simple and to start off traditionally very British chips-and-mince-pie-with-gravy-and-bread-and-butter-and-maybe-a-pint-of-ale-that-looks-like-shit straight up honest negative viewpoint, Arkells lack originality and are nothing exciting. If you're in a rush to do nothing or to combat the credit crunch single handedly by shopping in Lidl and turning lights off like it's the blitz [like everybody is], you are excused from reading on...
- hangout.altsounds.com
2010-11-02
★★★★★
Sound: Well in the Arkells new CD Jackson Square, they use a formula that they call "black and blue eyed soul" and that describes it perfectly. The majority of the tracks are very piano heavy with a few being piano driven but don't think "great, a canadian elton john wannbe" the arkells are far from that. Beautiful, heavy guitars, a soul-full and powerful drum sound sinc greatly with the singers sometimes strained sounding voice...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2009-11-15
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