Alfred

Last.fm listener count: 19,942

I feel a little bad about putting Arkells in this thread, because unlike all of the other bands here, they don't flat-out suck. But they are, in my opinion, pretty mediocre, with a rather ho-hum, laid-back, classic rock-inspired sound and only one really good song.

I saw Arkells open for Alexisonfire during the second night of a small rock festival near where I live. Obviously, I was there for Alexisonfire, but in order to see my favorite Canadian band play, I had to stand through 5 other bands, one of them being Arkells. Let me just say that the organizers of this festival did not do a good job of organizing the schedule. Arkells were the final opening act, and they played right after Moneen's (104,988 listeners) incredibly energetic set. I was definitely not in the mood for an hour of soft, jangly tunes following that.

Again, I don't want to rag on Arkells too much. They're not a bad band, there's no gaping stylistic flaws like the previous four bands, but they leave a lot to be desired. There's a lot of bands out there who do their same general style better, and I don't think the fact that they're young and Canadian should mean that they deserve to be put on a pedestal.