Partly Cloudy – Arm Your Weapons

Partly Cloudy – Arm Your Weapons / 2007 Self / 5 Tracks / http://www.partlycloudyrocks.com /

Partly Cloudy has been around for quite a few years. The act was founded by Dave Harms in 1995 and released an album, “State of Mind” on Long Island Recording. This 5 song EP marks their latest foray into punk music. The disc’s opening track is “Helpless”, and it shows the band as a mix of acts, with influences as diverse as AFI, JFT, and even earlier Green Day. The band seems to have a little bit of a classical metal sound with “…But to Me It’s Everything”, but what should get individuals most excited about the band would have to be their use of a very dark and brooding instrumental section that presents itself between the stanzas.

This instrumental section moves in and out of prominence until the chorus, where the instruments give their all and shine brightly. What results is a tempestuous track that brings older styles together with newer; lighter sounds with a heavy, crunchy one, and Partly Cloudy into notice. The hump track for “Arm Your Weapons” is “To The Gods”, and it seems to be a step forward for the band. This is due to the fact that the band links together an early nineties Megadeth sound to the guitars with an emotional, almost Goo Goo Dolls-like set of vocals. The band makes this Frankenstein’s unification work, and is able to really create something that will sell tons of albums while being unique.

The only thing that seems to hold the band back during “Arm Your Weapons” is the production, which is a little too bass-heavy to show the vocal nuances at all points during this album. The band struggles through this and comes up with the very Replacements meets Husker Du sound for “All You Need”. The inclusion of a Goo Goo Dolls-type of vocals for the second straight track further increases the allure of this track. The band is able to vary the sound of “All You Need” from their predecessors with the inclusion of minor amounts of hardcore and seventies rocks styles. Partly Cloudy has a solid sound for “Arm Your Weapons” that ties together five distinct tracks into one cohesive unit. Their unique interpretation of what it is to be a rock band will ensure that they will pick up fans by the barrelful, and that their next LP will be something to pick up whenever it may come out.

Top Track: Arm Your Weapons

Rating: 6.9/10