Metro Pulse/Music/A.R.E. Weapons

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What:
A.R.E. Weapons with God Star Social

When:
Sunday, June 29, 9 p.m.

Where:
The Pilot Light

Cost:
$8

New York's newest hype takes its buzz to heartland

by Matthew Everett

New York's not a bad place to start a band these days. Just ask the members of A.R.E. Weapons, who built significant buzz with a handful of nearly impossible-to-find singles and demos in the last couple of years, well before the release of their debut self-titled album in April.

"For better or worse, being in New York, we've been getting press for two and a half years," says Brain McPeck. "But without a record it's a double-edged sword. It's good that people know your name, but they can almost get sick of you before you even get a record out.... Whatever cycle we're in, music here is doing OK. We just have to make that short list of names that people know."

A.R.E. Weapons—McPeck on guitar, Matt McAuley on vocals, and Paul Sevigny, brother of actress Chloe Sevigny, as a multi-instrumentalist and the band's manager—are among the hottest of the new crop of NYC bands, along with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol and the Liars, following in the wake of the Strokes' success a couple of years ago. Their version of the new downtown electroclash sound—heavy guitars, clinky dance beats and tinkly Casio keyboards—is a violent combination of heavy metal and dance music, part dumb rock anthems and part art-damaged noise rock.

"A big part of our thing is being energetic and positive," McPeck says. "Some people definitely get our live show, and the record's a good primer to come see us."

So far, they've had only limited experience playing outside of New York. They've never toured for more than two weeks at a time, playing mostly in East Coast cities, with short tours of the West Coast, Australia, Europe and Canada. As with any new band, the response has been mixed (except in Europe, where they won the support of Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, who persuaded executives at Rough Trade to release the new album).

"We've wanted to tour America forever," McPeck says. "Now that the record is out it's finally time. It'll be interesting—sometimes we get 200 fucking kids, and the first two rows know all the lyrics. Sometimes it's 30 people, all of them standing 30 feet away from the stage. We have no idea what to expect about this tour. We're sort of prepared. We're ready to go out and give it all we've got, no matter who's there. Sometimes we just get 20 people but still pull a great show out of our ass."

The band's reputation has been built largely on its manic live shows, which McPeck says used to run about four songs before people started streaming out of the clubs. The vibe is equal parts anger and escapism, with a large dose of what McPeck calls "positive energy." A.R.E. Weapons are hardly a political band or a group of activists, but McPeck says he wants to offer some positivity to his audience. That attitude is summed up in the chorus to "Don't Be Scared," the opening song on the new album: "Dude, that's cool/ Dude, that's cool/ Dude, That's fucking awesome."

"To me, anger and being positive are the same thing," he says. "We're pissed off because we care. They go hand-in-hand. If you just say everything is fucking groovy, you're shutting your eyes to the pain and strife in the world. But you can't dwell on the pain and strife and inequity, because then you'll be a miserable fuck with no way to change anything. We're angry about poverty and racial fucking inequality and that people might not be living as free as they could be, but we're not a political band. We don't preach. But we do believe in things, namely human beings and rock and roll."

There's no secret behind the band's name, McPeck says, but it is intended to imply that the band sees its mission as a fight.

"It's purposely vague," he says. "You can see it a lot of different ways. But it is about the fight against boredom, the fight against being miserable. Even when we do it here in our own backyard, we try to make it Weapons World every time we do a show, 45 minutes of escapism."

McPeck moved to New York from Boston six years ago. That move, he says, was instrumental in the attitude of the band, which he sees as a quintessentially New York vibe. "What I like most about New York is the way it makes me feel," he says. "When I got here, it was like, 'I'm home.' It's gritty and tough, but it's a positive place. There's a lot of hot girls on the street, a lot of people, a lot of action."