Asheville, North Carolina’s Arizona stopped in at Cake Shop Friday night, celebrating the release of their sophomore album, The Glowing Bird. The band opened with “Heath,” the first track on the excellent new record.  The song is a folkie, midnight hayride on the album, but live, the meddling pace of the keys and guitars pick up to make the piece a stagecoach pursued by Comanches.  During the gently psychedelic “Balloons,” the band’s soft, subtle vocal harmonies helped reveal the song as some amalgamation of doo-wop croon, Ween-like irreverence and Pink Floyd extended metaphor. 

Vocal harmonics and maximum guitar shreds were surely the order of the night, especially during such numbers as “Swimming Hole” and “Glowing Bird.”  During the latter, guitarist Benjamin Morris Wigler dropped nearly to his knees, melting face while drummer James DeDakis seemed to be playing a Howitzer.

DeDakis and bassist Alex Hornbake kept the swirling, churning guitars from flying too far into the sun with their focused, clear-eyed playing.  DeDakis was so tight he sounded at times like a drum machine (albeit a very soulful one) and Hornbake, his neck bent to fit into the Cake Shop’s tiny space, played with the unfettered coolness of a seasoned pro. 

Often, Arizona came off as gleeful practitioners of the unexpected.  During “Sometimes a Chill,” Morris Wigler was in the middle of a Southwestern psyche-swing solo one minute, while the next he and guitarist Nick Campbell were channeling Metallica. “Whiskey and Wine” was a slow burn, the fire beginning with delicate vocals and major chords then building until the house collapsed around them in a holocaust of fuzz and reverb. 

In all, Arizona displayed an infectious joy while they performed, a joy emboldened by the members’ obvious talent and well-practiced songs.  Oh, and they were loud as hell, too.

Arizona will be on the road until November 22nd when they wrap up their tour in Pittsburgh.  Their album The Glowing Bird is out now on Echo Mountain Records. 

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