Premiere: Arms Akimbo, ‘Med School’

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Arms Akimbo

Arms Akimbo have built a following on emotionally and melodically rich pop-rock songs and their relentless touring in support of their releases. So although the COVID-19 lockdown took them off the road, it hasn’t affected their songcraft.

They’ve soldiered through other changes since their 2019 EP, “Seven Dollar Paycheck.” Chris Kalil departed the band, leaving Peter Schrupp, Matthew Sutton and Colin Boppell to carry on. To further complicate things, Boppell moved to Richmond, Va., with Schrupp and Sutton remaining in Los Angeles.

But Arms Akimbo have responded with energy and ambition. In 2021, after releasing a self-titled EP, they began rolling out songs for their first full-length, “East LA ETC.” Beyond merely the songs, each of the album’s 12 tracks is arriving with a one-minute video directed by Will Houlihan, with each narrative building on the previous to comprise the storyline of what the band is calling a TV show. (“@HBOMax pick us up,” they plead on social media.)

They’ve segmented the album (and the “acts” of the TV show) into the three genres with which they’ve been associated: folk, pop and rock.

This week brings the release of the fourth single, “Med School,” a doo-wop-influenced indie-rocker with a fuzzy guitar, arching harmonies and a palpable sense of longing.

“I wrote ‘Med School’ when our band was touring a ton and my girlfriend was back home in grad school (I would’ve called it ‘Grad School,’ but it just didn’t ring the same in my head),” Schrupp says. “It’s tough to keep a relationship afloat when you also want to pursue a career and devote yourself to a vocation. We had patience with each other and it hit a bump or two, but we’re still together now. I might be the least rock ’n’ roll musician around: monogamous girlfriend of six years and I’ve been sober my whole life.”

With the pandemic and geography posing recording challenges, Schrupp says a lot of “Med School” was “Frankensteined … drums here, vocals there, blah blah blah.” It was ultimately completed in Carlsbad with producer Niko Sitaras (aka Bubblewrap).

||| Stream: “Make My Bed” and watch the Episode 4

||| Also: Watch the previously released videos in order