CD REVIEW: JOCELYN & CHRIS ARNDT – Edges

Shane | 4 October 2016 | Reply

CD REVIEW: JOCELYN & CHRIS ARNDT – Edges
Independent
March 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8 /10

There’s a bluesy, soulful edge to the rootsy soft rock of sister and brother Jocelyn & Chris Arndt, who hail from upstate New York. On first listen it’s tempting to think that Jocelyn’s riveting, emotive, passionate vocals are the star here, but Chris leads their band with aplomb beyond his years, providing a strong bedrock to support his sister’s throaty whisper-to-a-roar range.

Ultimately, Edges is an album out of time: a piece of work more ‘70s in approach and feel and style than anything a modern hipster could dream up with their knob twiddling studio trick-boxes. It’s this sheer organic richness that is exactly what Jocelyn’s vocals need to properly shine.

Retro is very now, of course, and if you had to find a modern comparison to The Arndts, you could – at a stretch – suggest they sound something like Blues Pills would, with all the hard rock elements removed and a more rootsy vibe going on.

That said, there’s nothing Americana about The Arndts. This is pop music – ‘70s style, with a multitude of influences: a jazzy feel to opener Shame; breezy West coast cool on Where’s The Rain; gorgeously wistful piano on More Than I Say I Do; bluesy licks and a wailing Hammond organ on the slinky grit of Jagged; a suitably smoky, sultry feel to Hot; the bluesy Memphis soul of Mystery.

The album also features as powerful a ballad as we’ve heard in ages, in Cut The Cord, and finishes with the loose jazzy swing of Here To Stay – and you can bet they will be.