Rating: NNN
On their second full-length album and first since adding “cursed” to their name, Kitchener-Waterloo’s Cursed Arrows deliver a dense serving of post-grunge that hits hard but also pleases with boy/girl harmonies and strong melodies.
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Over 10 songs, the husband/wife duo run through a score of early 90s reference points – a hint of Pixies, a dash of Melvins, a heavy dollop of Nirvana – but sound surprisingly fresh in the process. Alternating between beautifully sinister power chords and nuanced rhythm patterns, the album squeezes ample variety from just two instruments. The title track, for instance, crams more riffs into four and a half minutes than can be reasonably counted.
At times the overtly philosophical lyrics can be a bit much, but the band seems out to prove heaviness can coexist with subtlety. For the most part, they succeed.
Top track: Run Forever
Cursed Arrows play Clinton’s Friday (May 7).
