A.R.E. Weapons - Keys Money Cigarettes

Earlier this year we saw A.R.E. Weapons release what I believe was their third full-length via their own website. To be honest, it surprised me that the band even still existed. I owned their self-titled first record when it came out back in 2003. I never felt the urge to sell it when I was cleaning up my record collection, which I guess does show some level of affection and enjoyment, but as far as I was concerned, that was all from the band. The album was an enjoyable little piece of NY "fuck you" attitude with the occasional cheesy and overblown loving sentiment but I really couldn't see how the band would last. However, apparently they've released two records since then, "Keys Money Cigarettes" being the latest. Those of you who have followed the band on any level since their inception will know how much Suicide references have plagued them in all forms of press and criticism. After all, it's two guys from New York, one pisses around with electronics and one screams like a man-bitch and they both have that ever beloved sense of NY cool. Sound familiar?

The point when the Suicide comparison ends comes in both delivery and subject matter. It's very easy to presume that Suicide were an absolutely terrifying proposition decades ago. Hell, even now when I play people "Frankie Teardrop" they become very, very nervous. Suicide had a dark mentality. They didn't make much music that was either easily accessible or friendly. They wrote songs about a man shooting his six month old son and wife because that actually seemed like a good topic to write a song about to them. Every lyric in that song was sung so you could hear just how disturbed the subject matter was, save the occasional lyric lacking scream to add to the intensity. It's an incredibly disturbed exercise in music creation, of which very few bands have been able to recreate since. Now lets look at A.R.E. Weapons. They sing songs about hustling, how great they are, drugs, quite normal social situations and frankly there's not an element of edge or fear anywhere to be seen here. It's pretty easy to call A.R.E. Weapons "goofy". That's how all their songs come off, at least. It's almost impossible to think of anyone in their sane mind actually taking offense or being shocked by anything this band does. Now this leads to two possibilities. A) The band actually think they're an incredibly dangerous and important proposition and everything they have to say is incredibly smart. In other words they're delusional. Or B) They're well aware that they're not a torch carrier for Suicide and are just genuinely enjoying the ride. I personally have no idea, every piece of press and image from the band shows that their mentality towards what they do could go either way.

As something that resembles a final thought, let's drop the Suicide comparison and any level of notable posturing and consider the new record on purely musical grounds. It's great. It's a fun slab of danceable attitude from two men who are incredibly competent within their roles in the band. Vocals are yelped, samples are mashed and "Keys Money Cigarettes" is A.R.E. Weapons at their snotty, mocking best. Completely disposable but more enjoyable because of it.

A.R.E. Weapons - Nobody Likes Us We Don't Care
A.R.E. Weapons - Mystery

Buy Keys Money Cigarettes from the band's website


For reference and terrifying everyone around you:
Suicide - Frankie Teardrop