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LEFT ARM Press
Dissatisoul CD Reviews
Sleazegrinder review of "Dissatisoul"
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! - Sleaze
Smashin' Transistors review of "Dissatisoul"
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
Riverfront Times review of "Dissatisoul"
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
Other press
RFT 2008 Music Awards Nominees: Best Garage Band
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 - except maybe the expectation that East Side bands can't play rock & roll. - Jason Toon
Lo-Fi STL Video Blog Feature #2 - by Bill Streeter
CD Release Party Preview - by Annie Zaleski / RFT Blogs
Lo-Fi STL Video Blog Feature #1 - by Bill Streeter
Show Me the Garage Rock! - by Jason Toon / Riverfront Times
Show Review (w/Gore Gore Girls) - by Amy Burger / playbackstl.com
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