Arches

Arches is a short-lived screamo band from the United States. The group is a collaborative project with a line-up that appears in different forms across the available information, but the clearest band details identify Chris on guitar and vocals, Jacques on drums, Blake on bass, and Kyle on vocals. It is also described elsewhere as a band from California and as a band from Glasgow, but the authoritative details place it in the United States.

Style and activity

The band is tagged with indie, screamo, emo violence, shoegaze, and house. It is described as a screamo act rather than a long-running or mainstream project, and its activity is framed as limited and short-lived.

Releases and collaborators

One version of the project appears as a collaboration between Seba of Moonlight Matters and Jochen of Sound Of Stereo. Under that name, the debut song “There’s a Place” is premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 and is supported by Tensnake, Duke Dumont, The Magician, and Karma Kid. Another version of Arches is based in Philadelphia and centres on former college roommates Tom Herman Jr. and Julien Rossow-Greenberg, who live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In that lineup, the pair recruit childhood friends Cristian Adams on bass and Kevin Kearney on drums.

Album and influences

The Philadelphia project draws on influences ranging from the Byrds to Built to Spill, with the sound described as sitting between those two reference points and carrying heavy reverb and a nostalgic feel. Its self-released debut LP, Wide Awake, is issued in 2011. The record is also compared to Grizzly Bear’s spacious, churchly style, while being described as simpler and more elemental in its songwriting.

Other material

Another Arches project is identified as a Hong Kong band that releases the song “Doll” and lists Jack on guitar, vocals and lyrics, Takuro on drums, Hugo on guitar, Equus on bass, Edward on guitar, and Wayne on backing vocals.