Atlanta Music Guide got to sit down with Max and Mike of the Arkells at Shaky Knees, their last stop on a two-week run of US shows before a brief stint home in Ontario. From there, like many Shaky performers, they officially kick off their summer festival season. First stop, Sasquatch.
The Arkells recently did something few bands outside of the hip-hop world are doing these days. They released a single. A true single. A free-standing song without an album’s worth of songs to back it up. And it’s phenomenal. At least, the entire crowd singing along during their set led me to believe.
Max explained their reasoning. “It’s one of the most deeply satisfying parts of writing a song. The initial period where you’re still really excited it about and see all of its potential. And it’s way more fun to go do your idea while you’re still excited about it than to say, let’s go do a bunch of songs and save them all to put on a record.”
In addition to being a really good song, Knocking At The Door obviously appeals to the Atlantan in me as the final lines cry ambitiously, RISE UP. We joked that it was a ‘Jock Jam’ and should be the Falcons’ new hype song. When I say joked, I mean, it should be the Falcons’ new hype song.
Check out AMG’s New Song Spotlight, Knocking at the Door and give a listen to the Arkells’ newest album, Morning Report.
photography by Dan Kulpa of ConcertAddicts.com
