One would not expect Belgian bands to produce sounds that evoke images of exotic beaches, well-shaken cocktails and scantily clad young ladies..., although that's exactly what Buscemi has been doing for years. And now, to our delight, there's Arsenal to keep them company. Arsenal's first CD simmered with African and Brazilian vibes, but on their latest release, Outsides, they have really expanded their horizons.
On this Album, Hendrik Willemyns and John Roan have embraced rock in order to create soundscapes in which guitars are readily allowed to mingle with electronic music. Not to mention the fact that the songs have also been subjected to a healthy injection of funk and soul! Arsenal's achievement should not be underestimated: although they played around with lots of different styles and genres, they still managed to mould it all together into a very solid record consisting of beautifully crafted songs. And above all, they get their guest vocalists, who try out stuff that's completely new to them, to really outperform themselves.
Take The Coming for example: who would've thought that Gabriel Rios had this film noir-side to him. Or Personne Ne Bouge!, where Balo (ex-Starflam) oozes so much coolness all over an innocent little pop tune that he still manages to make it sound mean. Former The Sheila Devine-singer Aaron Perrino is his usual melancholic self all over Northern Soul and Buy in Late, where he manages to hit just the right tune. But the two highlights are unmistakeably Switch and Shu Qi Ni De Tou Fa. If Quentin Tarantino ever gets to hear the latter, he'll immediately put it on the soundtrack of his next movie, and it is also the ultimate proof that it's possible to rap in Chinese! The former not only swings like a bunch of horny cheerleaders doing some nasty stuff with bananas, but it also bangs like a rutting bull. (You can tell that listening to Arsenal can make it hard to keep the old hormones in check...)
f the football team bearing the same name were to play at an equally continuously high level as these two Belgians do, they'd be bound to win the Champions League every year. No sweat! Twelve beautiful goals in one game: now that's something you don't get to see every week!