Photo by Aaron Jones

When you get past the notion that there’s a big bullshit factory being run behind the Armed’s publicity aesthetic to a contrived degree as to who actually is a member of the band, who you’re actually seeing perform live on stage with them in the rare instance they do, and the skepticism of those members’ real identities, there is a complex, enigmatic post-hardcore supergroup whose greater sum works in wonders and deservedly grabbed the music world’s attention following their acclaimed 2020 third full-length effort, ULTRAPOP. And now, they are asking to be taken seriously. They swear the curtain has been dropped leading into their upcoming album, Perfect Saviors, and maybe the writer who is reporting that is in on the gimmick with them, but at the very least, you can say that its first preview, “Sport of Form”, is doing its damnedest to at least maintain an element of intrigue. It’s a departure from the art-core theatrics from what preceded it, but then again, a tour opening for Queens of the Stone Age and finally putting their own string of headlining dates on the calendar justifies some arena-scaled palatability. Here, it’s by wrangling in soft-spoken saint Julien Baker behind Tony Wolski’s vacant vocal stare and leaning into electronic fissures and art-pop acoustic guitars more so than they do the anticipated breakdown. It’s a stark departure from the “this makes me want to bench press a gorilla while bursting through the wall like the Kool-Aid man” kind of Armed songs that made them a weightlifter’s friend and the hardcore kids who liked an art school flair in their sound might just hate them after this, but still, it makes you wonder if that’s been part of their creative long con all along – curiously enough when the former route would have been greatly in their favor…

Directed by: Tony Wolski

The Armed’s Perfect Saviors will be released August 25th on Sargent House.