“Thanks for Wading” by Arbor Creek

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A blues-influenced rock band hailing from the Chicago area is certainly no surprise. It is a surprise, and a welcome one, that this Windy City unit isn’t merely regurgitating the work of their betters but, instead, is aiming to offer up something capable of standing in such august company. The band’s second studio outing Thanks for Wading can be taken any number of ways but there are two crucial interpretations many listeners will come away with.

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One is that Arbor Creek is a solid rock band capable of tweaking its style for added spice. Another point of view, however, will hear an evolving band moving away from easy classification and falling through the cracks people have categorized music into for so many years. The blues is strong here, no doubt, but Arbor Creek’s inclinations ultimately seem to lean towards a more jam band aesthetic than anything else.

It isn’t quite as apparent in songs such as “Shoes”. The opener begins life as a rumbling blues-rock number with a muted demeanor but, by its end, Arbor Creek rolls out the big six-string guns and flexes the song’s rock muscle. Their unpredictability shines through ending the song with an unexpected acoustic outro. “Cold in Chicago” has a lot of waste and desolation rife throughout its blues, the loneliness is palpable, but there’s elegance in the playing as well. Fans of the form will appreciate the graceful chords holding the song together and the playing has the right touch for the genre.

“George and Eddie” is a wired-to-the-gills rocker with blazing guitar, and you won’t mind it being an instrumental at all. The rambunctious go-for-broke attitude in the playing isn’t one note, however, as the band throws the listener a memorable curve ball in the track’s second half. “Power of the Throne” goes deep into the blues again. It isn’t as deep as a dive as its predecessor “Cold in Chicago”, however, as the band breaks with purist blues for the song’s refrain and other assorted passages. It’s a fantastic synthesis of blues with other styles.

The second half of the album is arguably much stronger than the first. “Lovely Summer Day” and “Dune Scarve” continue the hot run Arbor Creek enjoys during this part of the release as the former hits the mark as the album’s best outright rock song and the latter finds Arbor Creek at their most expansive. “Dune Scarve” is one of those songs from a band early on where you hear where they are likely going and, if that’s the case with this band, we’re in for even greater music to come.

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“Day Is Gonna Come – Day Is Here” closes Thanks for Wading on a high note. It’s one of the band’s most audacious compositions so far and their elasticity throughout the song is something to hear. This is likely one of the best live bands working today and the material they are crafting is clearly designed to play, first and foremost, for a concert audience. Let’s hope that Thanks for Wading breeds more opportunities for these songwriters and performers to shine. 

Trace Whittaker