Skip to content
Premieres

Join Up With Arbor Labor Union for Their Rousing Debut LP, ‘I Hear You’

Arbor Labor Union

Arbor Labor Union play post-punk guitar rock in such a tried-and-true mold that you almost want to resurrect the term “college rock” — now defunct and totally meaningless — just for them. Born “from a peach tree in Georgia in the American south,” according to their bio, the quartet combines the droning jams of Luna with the tender tension of Ought (and the squealing yawps of Meat Puppets frontman Curt Kirkwood) on debut album I Hear You, one of the most satisfying full-band records of 2016’s first half. The tracks are long, the six-strings are loud, and the grooves are absolutely transfixing.

Though the feeling they produce is old, the songs themselves feel new, just the latest in a proud lineage. The band offers in comment to SPIN: “We hold these truths to be self evident: This is now music of the modern era. No genre revival. If a voice within whispers “Listen” you must respond I Hear You. As did we and will continue to do. I love you- ALU.” Listen here, ahead of the album’s proper release on Sub Pop on May 13.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries%3Flist%3DPLbOGt8cOph4VSA8EgG9faMaROQP3E-B0Y