Left Arm

The garage-rock combo Left Arm started as a two-piece, morphed briefly into a quartet and has now settled in as a nervy, primal trio. It's an ideal state for the Edwardsville, Illinois, band: There's no fat or fluff on these songs, just a lot of fuzzy bass, thick riffs and plenty of 'tude. Drummer and singer Jason Potter sounds like he's using twelve-gauge drumsticks, clubbing away at his snare and socking the loose hi-hat like a broken jaw. Dissatisoul combines seven new tracks (recorded with Joe Stumble, who's since left the band, on guitar) along with five songs from last year's Play 5 Songs with a Caveman EP (recorded with a two-guitar lineup). Stumble's guitar playing adds an eerie level of atmosphere to the album's first half; he can spit out riffs all night long, but his squeals and squalls give a new dimension to these songs.

By design, there is not a lot to say about garage-rock lyrics in general, and Left Arm is no different: some girls are hot, some hot girls are troublesome and rock & roll is our only salvation. The words may be space-fillers, but the delivery of the songs (sung by all three members) embodies the grit, energy and recklessness of the music. The best of the bunch is the Jello Biafra-meets-the-Cramps stomp of "Gotta Go," in which Potter exhorts the crowd to anoint themselves with "the holy barbecue sauce of rock & roll." In that case, call me a pork steak and bring on the Maull's.

- Christian Schaeffer - Riverfront Times

Best Garage Band - Left Arm

Left Arm's raucous, sweaty frenzy of garage-punk rock & roll sounds unabashedly south-city St. Louis but (gasp!) this power trio hails from the east side of the river, where bands have historically tended toward the more artsy end of the rock spectrum and songs with only a single time signature and three chords are thought to be somewhat inferior. Left Arm keeps its audience in constant motion, never letting the dust settle, by moving from one propulsive, tightly wound rock & roll explosion to the next. It's a superb job of guarding rock's sacred legacy — and a great reminder of what makes that music great in the first place. - Riverfront Times

Sometimes it seems like all East Side rock bands are art-damaged wankers who consider getting on your nerves a valid artistic aim. Then along comes somebody like Left Arm. It can get just as loud as any of its fellow Illinoisans, but the band uses its powers in the service of vulgar old rock & roll. Dissatisoul, its latest disc, has won the ears of discerning garage creeps on both sides of the Big Muddy. Left Arm isn’t out to alter any paradigms or confound any expectations – expect maybe the expectation that East Side bands can't play rock & roll.

-- Jason Toon - Riverfront Times

(excerpt)

Now, the [Gore Gore] Girls don't get all the credit for the audience's excited state—they were, as Amy Gore put it onstage, "well lubricated" by the suitably-matched opening act, St. Louis-based Left Arm, who half-jokingly refer to their style as "tardcore."

For a three-piece band to really work well, all the links in the chain have to be strong, and that is definitely the case with the members of this band: bassist Jim Stotts, drummer Jason Potter and guitarist Joe Stumble (all three share vocal duties). A tightly knit, well-oiled machine, they keep the vibe lighthearted and fun while cranking out some serious, loud-ass garage punk rock 'n' roll.

This may be hard punk rock, but it is highly accessible and very danceable. And as the boys in Left Arm sing in one of their biggest crowd-pleasers, "When Jason says to dance, you better dance!" And we did.

The best thing about Left Arm, besides their first-rate musicianship, is that these guys never take themselves too seriously. While completely dedicated to their art and keeping the Left Arm tradition going, they're not pretentious, but rather more tongue-in-cheek about anything approaching self-importance. Mostly, they just rock.

- Amy Burger
- playbackstl.com

Video blog feature from a Left Arm performance.

Bill Streeter's introduction:

Do you have a left arm? I do. I use it for holding shit down while my right arm goes to work on it. Today, I have a band called Left Arm. Yeah, they’re called Left Arm. They’re from Edwardsville, Illinois. I dig ‘em. They’re kick-ass. Check ‘em out.

View video:

http://lofistl.com/2007/06/20/episode-170-left-arm
- lofistl.com

I’ll admit that I stopped paying close attention while reviewing this. However, I justify this action by saying this band was actually enjoyable enough for me to lose myself in the flow of the music. I think that says something. For most of the disc, I forgot I was supposed to be reviewing this and thought it was part of my own collection. At most points, it’s some damn good garage punk. At less points, it’s decent garage punk. The good to decent ratio is about three to one, and I think that’s a pretty good average. (Trouble In River City)

-– Bryan Static - Razorcake

Left Arm is from somewhere around St Louis, and that's all you need to know, really. Even that might be too much. This band's more about incessant throb than geography. Its mallet-to-the-skull punk n' roll, somewhere in the gutter between The Fluid and…dunno, Guns N' Roses. Or The Meteors. Those two are closer than you think. Anyway, there's a bunch of stab-happy tracks here full of speed and gristle. Opener "No Time for Rock N' Roll" is my personal pick of the litter because it sounds like an asthmatic dragon. "More Harm than Good" has a nice layer of slime on it, too. Anyway, because Left Arm are giving fellas, you not only get 7 lip-smacking new tracks here, but a bonus EP, 2006's "Songs With a Caveman", as well. What's the diff? The Caveman tracks sound like they've been rolling around in lint. Tasty! - Sleazegrinder

A crappy name (unless you are a Mudhoney tribute band) and an ugly front cover but the sounds inside kick some ass! Big dumb hard rock with a totally punk rock attitude. Chicks will always treat you wrong but rock-n-roll will always save your soul! I know that so they are preaching to the choir but that's the reason I chose it as my church. I'm gonna put this in my truck's CD player and run every red light on my way to the liquor store way on the other side of town. Do you need a lift over that way? Shut up and hang on. Just remember-NO ONE RIDES FOR FREE!

-- Doctor Wayne - Smashin’ Transistors

If you are unfamiliar with the reigning queen of the St. Louis burlesque scene, miss Lola Van Ella, and her fabulous friends, such as aerial pole dancing duo "Gravity Plays Favorites," you are truly missing out on one of the most entertaining evenings this city has to offer. And if you want to see something really unique, then you definitely must check out Lola's new venture, a monthly show called "Screw You Burly-Q" at The Wedge (resurrecting the High Point in South City), which pairs some of St. Louis' hottest bands and loveliest burlesque performers.

I was fortunate enough to catch the premiere of Screw You Burly-Q on Saturday, which teamed Lola and friends with St. Louis' favorite garage band, Left Arm for a match seemingly made in heaven. These hard rockers never disappoint, but after Saturday night it is evident that Left Arm should always be accompanied by voluptuous, scantily-clad women dancing and eating fire.

The evening began with a truly mesmerizing "teaser" performance by the sexy and sultry Foxy LeFeline to the Dresden Dolls' "Missed Me." After a brief break to replenish the drinks, the show went on with performances by Siren (the only not biologically female performer), fire dancer Sturdy Gurlesque and the incomparable Gravity Plays Favorites. These two pole acrobats will literally astound you. It's like watching a saucy circus filled with pin-up girls - and they all prove that you don't have to be a perfect size 2 to be sexy and glamorous. These real women have real curves that are far sexier than anything you'll see in the pages of a fashion magazine.

Finally, Lola Van Ella took the stage and put her own special spin on the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen." Wearing silver platform boots and a cheeky Union Jack mini-dress, she punked it up - a true departure from her more traditional burlesque style - and got the crowd primed and ready for some loud, live music.

Left Arm brought it as usual, playing songs from their new 7" Electric Babies, recorded in Detroit this summer with producer Jim Diamond (do The White Stripes ring a bell?). Lola returned to the stage to shimmy and shake her stuff with the band to the title track. Then Sturdy Gurlesque brought back the flames to heat up "Black and Bluetooth."

Burlesque and punk rock may seem like an unlikely combination - but trust me on this one, it's a perfect fit. Release your inhibitions and go check it out.

-- Amy Burger

http://www.playbackstl.com/content/view/8273/158/ - Playback:stl Online