Music: The Arms Akimbo

From our view way over here in Middle America, the thought of Nick Schaser relocating to London to perform his brand of rock seems as daring and outlandish as him going to Jamaica to start a reggae group or Louisiana to play Cajun music. The Arms Akimbo frontman, you see, sings and writes like an unabashed Anglophile -- or at least that's how he sounds to us Yanks.

"Actually, being the kid from Minnesota sort of made me the exotic one over there, and probably worked to my advantage," recalled Schaser, who lived in England nearly three years and fronted a band there called Jack Maggs.

Back home in the Twin Cities, Schaser's Anglophile style really isn't all that exotic. You can't swing a snow shovel in this scene without hitting a Kinks- or Stones-inspired band. But Schaser and the barely year-old Arms Akimbo have quickly managed to stand out from the crowd.

These guys don't just echo the most obvious Brith rock legends. A keen listener is more likely to cite Elvis Costello or Nick Lowe upon hearing gems such as "We've Tried Everything" or "You Want To," the title track of the band's 2009 EP. Likewise, the Jam, Libertines and Supergrass can also be heard in some of the scrappier, punkier tracks on the the trio's self-titled debut, including "The Kids Still Love Us," which references Schaser's annoyance at reading about Oasis over and over in NME magazine. Said Schaser, "I definitely fall more on the side of Blur in the Oasis vs. Blur battle."

Rounded out by Schaser's younger brother, Ian, on drums, the group has been performing together since the members attended St. Louis Park's Benilde-St. Margaret School in the late '90s. The Schasers were playing in a band even before that, as their British Invasion-weaned musical father enlisted them to jam with him as young kids.

"From the very beginning, I was trying to sing like Paul McCartney, with that accent," Nick recalled. "It's just how I learned to do it."

Reunited upon Nick's return in 2008, the trio started playing together for fun. Things got serious late last year upon the release of their EP, which the Current put into rotation. The trio then found a like-minded producer to help craft their full-length album: Eric Lovold, frontman for the Alarmists (yep, another Anglophile local band). Lovold fit the Arms Akimbo so well that he signed on as keyboardist and backup singer. Friday's release party at Cause will be his second time in the lineup.

I suppose this means local fans won't get to start up an Alarmists vs. Arms Akimbo battle.