Adam Bevel and his band Arkham have released a new record, entitled The Great American Goodbye. It’s the first full record from the Chicago band since 2012’s Dipset.
We spoke to Adam about the new record:
Dan told me to write something about the record, so here it goes:
The Great American Goodbye marks both the end of a 2 year journey, and the beginning of a new chapter. This journey has taken us across the entire United States, from sea to shining sea, and let us see things I never thought possible, let us meet people who have changed our lives forever. This path has had us sharing stages with everyone from Weekend Nachos to Chunk No Captain Chunk. It has been fun, heartwarming, and often bizarre.
We set out to create something that was what we wanted to hear out of bands. We wanted a record that was deeply rooted in the Punk and Hardcore bands that we love, yet unafraid to branch out. We wanted a record with strong social and political messages, but at the same time was deeply personal. We wanted to create something that was angry and urgent, but also had a lot of heart. I’d like to think we succeeded.
Life, Death, Art, Success, Fame, Failure and Nationalism all run through the core of the American existence, whether we realize it or not the uniquely American way we have been socialized to view these things directly impacts the way in which we interact with the world. This record, for me at least, exists as a rejection of so many of those ideals. It was music that opened my eyes to the world around me, bands like Rage Against The Machine, Verse, Strike Anywhere and Propagandhi that taught me the world outside my bubble was beautiful, broken, and most importantly worth fighting for, and we hope that this record follows in that tradition. While music itself won’t change the state of the world, perhaps it can continue to expose those of us in this community to the problems of the world around us and in turn, energize us to start living and creating the changes in the world we wish to see, and maybe that in itself is revolutionary. Our generation, and the alternative music community especially is sold so much uncertainty, self-doubt and self-loathing, and maybe change only comes when we reject that, and realize the power to create a better world that exists in all of us. As a man much wiser than me once wrote “A punk rock song won’t ever change the world, but I can tell you about a couple that changed me”
This record means everything to us, we hope it means something to you. This is the Great American Goodbye.
The Great American Goodbye is now available digitally or on pre-order through Bandcamp.com, with vinyl to follow at a later date. Diamonds will turn to dust, and glory will fade, so listen to the record below:
