The new ‘At Arkaroo Rock’ 7” from legendary Australian band The Steinbecks is out now and a very welcome return it is! Their first release since the ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’ album in 2007 and first 7” since classics recorded for Summershine Records and Drive In Records in the 1990s, the new single (matinée 088) draws inspiration from ancient cave paintings at Australian indigenous cultural site Arkaroo Rock.
The song links the layers of a landscape’s history with the layers of a relationship—a theme familiar to fans of the band through songs like ‘Geology’ (1994), ‘The Lighthouse Act’ (1998), and ‘Bye Bye Baby’ (2007). Musically, ‘At Arkaroo Rock’ is lush and lovely—an oasis in a dry land. Myriad Marresque guitars riff, chime and jangle over a rock solid rhythm, with percussive flourishes adding a flair that will warm the hearts of Style Council, Aztec Camera, and Belle & Sebastian fans. The single version of ‘At Arkaroo Rock’ is a 4-minute radio edit; a longer version will appear on the forthcoming Steinbecks album, ‘Kick to kick with The Steinbecks’ later this year.
The single is backed by two exclusive tracks. ‘All Desires Known’ is arguably Josh and Joel Meadows’ most fragile, stripped back recorded moment since ‘Yr Jacket’, the last song they recorded as The Sugargliders. In contrast ‘Cabin Fever’ is an energetic ode to earthy love, reminiscent of The Monochrome Set, Tenpole Tudor and The Brilliant Corners.
The 7” is limited to 500 hand-numbered copies on classic black vinyl, and as always, if you purchase a copy from the Matinée shop you’ll get a free immediate download of the songs as well!
We have a limited number of copies of classic Steinbecks albums on Summershine and Microindie Records in the Matinée shop at the moment so do the right thing and catch up on their backstory before their new album arrives later this year. The recent ‘A Nest With A View’ compilation (matcd062) from pre-Steinbecks band The Sugargliders is an essential piece of the history too but we’ve been bigging that one up on these very pages for the past year so surely you’ve secured a copy already, oui?
You can preview all three tracks from the ‘At Arkaroo Rock’ 7” right now on the handy Soundcloud player below. Enjoy!