Arkells History Is Repeating

As far as shopping malls go, Hamilton, Ontario's Lloyd D. Jackson Square — known simply as Jackson Square to the locals — is accumulating a noteworthy musical history.

Seminal Canadian rock outfit Simply Saucer recorded a 1975 performance on the roof of the mall that was eventually released on their modern classic, Cyborgs Revisited. Fellow Steel City residents Arkells have just paid the landmark homage by borrowing its name for their full-length debut.

"A lot of the songs are loosely connected to the area," says keyboardist/guitarist Dan Griffin. "And since the band formed and is operating out of Hamilton, it has sort of become the backdrop, not only for our lives personally, but for the band itself. It made sense to call this collection of songs by the canvas by where it originated."

History is a deciding factor in a number of the band's naming exercises. Considering these guys are a Constantines-esque grit-rock group, the Arkells moniker comes from a rather unexpected location.

"Before we all met each other and got into this formation, we were all getting into the idea of starting something like a Motown, all-female R&B group," Griffin says, without a hint of irony. "We ended up meeting each other, and we were interested in the same kinds of things, so we ended up picking a name that reminded us of that kind of era."

Their first choice was actually Charlemagne, but that name had already been taken by an American band.

"Yeah, we were [originally] called Charlemagne," Griffin recalls. "We didn't change it just because there was another band with that name.

"We just had a lot of respect for that band and we thought there was only room for one band called Charlemagne. It was time for us to forge our own path."

The first step on that path was an EP called Deadlines that the Arkells released in early 2008. Flying in the face of redundancy, they've reproduced all five of its tracks on Jackson Square. The decision to duplicate wasn't spurred by economic factors, but by pure perfectionism that drove them to repeat themselves. The Deadlines songs were re-recorded to inject some extra might.

"I think the reason we did that was that we thought they were really good songs, and we didn't get a chance until now to give them the time and resources they needed… to make them sound the way we wanted them to," explains Griffin.

They're still practically newcomers, but Arkells have already shared the stage with Tokyo Police Club, Matt Mays & El Torpedo and Alexisonfire. The sound they were searching for on Jackson Square has quickly developed into a live show with a reputation for raw and unbridled energy that repeatedly draws comparisons to Bruce Springsteen performances. They're novices in the realm of lengthy tours, but Griffin is happy to report that, thus far, they haven't let road life get the better of them.

"No bar brawls yet," he says. "We're usually too tired to start any fights after a show."