A.R.E. Weapons "Modern Mayhem" (2007)

Fucking Awesome, Forget what you heard A.R.E. Weapons are for real”
— Fader Magazine

“…the New York City of their songs is a strange realm somewhere between Grease and Blade Runner, with teenage love, apocalyptic street gangs, and knife fights.”
— Vanity Fair

“At one point, you know, Thurston Moore called; he had heard about our band…. When you’re 20 in DC playing fucking free jazz, it was like God calling….so we moved to New York…that was about six years ago….” – Brain McPeck, 2003

Cut to 2007, almost a decade later, and Brain McPeck (vocals) and Matt McAuley (guitar) are still in NYC making music. Joined by Erik Rapin (drums) and Paul Sevigny (synthesizer) these four musicians make up A.R.E. Weapons, a band that has been making tracks and playing incendiary live shows since 1999. A.R.E. Weapons personifies New York City and is now set to release their third album Modern Mayhem. A.R.E. Weapons has created a sound high on energy and rife with pissed off (but ultimately positive) messages.

No other band captures the essence of New York City like electro-punk rockers A.R.E. Weapons. Emerging from the underground NYC music scene, the group is a living embodiment of every aspect that makes the city unique: gritty realism, organized chaos, and the adrenaline rush of not knowing what’s next to come.

Upon being discovered by Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker, the band signed to Rough Trade and their self-titled debut was released in 2003 to high acclaim from numerous publications such as Vanity Fair, SPIN, i-D, Blender, The Fader, NME, V and Entertainment Weekly. After two years of touring, the band released their sophomore album Free in the Streets (Defend Music) in the fall of 2005. At the same time, McAuley and McPeck made their big screen debut as stoner drifters in Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers.

Now in 2007 the Weapons are back with their much anticipated third release Modern Mayhem (Defend Music). Building upon their signature electro-rock, Modern Mayhem explores a dirtier punk sound with edgy bass lines, and intense live drumming. The result is a refreshing approach to the punk music that began 30 years ago in the dark musical venues of the lower east side. Weaving together a blend of crude urban-esque electronics and innovative amphetamine beats, Modern Mayhem is a strange yet invigorating steroid-fuelled rock journey that is a tribute to the New York punk pioneers of music long ago and a fresh jolt of stylistic ingenuity that is individual to the Weapons alone.

Modern Mayhem solidifies the group’s raw talent to encompass the true meaning of a NYC rock band - authentic, grimy and really fucking awesome.

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