Album Review
Although the term arena rock is usually used in connection with the '70s and '80s, arena rock didn't really disappear after the '80s. Rather, the basic idea of arena rock — hard rocking but melodic bands with big guitars, big hooks and a radio-friendly approach — lived on in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush years, but with a strong alternative rock outlook and a passion for life in a post-Nevermind world. So instead of being called Bon Jovi, Heart, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, or Winger, the arena rockers who emerged in the '90s and 2000s have had post-grunge names like Creed, 3 Doors Down, Matchbox Twenty, Cinema8, Default, and Third Eye Blind. And the post-Nevermind vision of arena rock is very much at work on Arthurkill's second album, The Pain, which doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the post-grunge sound but is still a likable, well-executed example of the style. In Arthurkill's case, the term arena rock is a figure of speech because these Staten Island residents haven't actually headlined any large arenas (certainly not as of late 2007). Nonetheless, Arthurkill has been around the New York City rock scene since the mid-'90s, and this 2007 release paints an attractive picture of the band. No one will accuse hooky tracks like "Can't Back Down" and "On My Knees" of reinventing the post-grunge wheel, but if The Pain is derivative, it is enjoyably derivative — and Arthurkill gets the job done on original material as well as inspired covers of Cypress Hill's "Rockstar Superstar" and the Beatles' "Come Together" (which has also been covered by everyone from Aerosmith to Gladys Knight & the Pips). The Pain concludes with a few acoustic demos that were recorded back in 1996 — no less than 11 years before the rest of the album was recorded — and while that bonus material is interesting, the 2007 recordings are the main reason to acquire this noteworthy disc.
