The Stairwell, Parking Garage, & Pool Tour: Arks' The International

Put the Fall and Pixies together as a band. Let them play a tour of concrete stairwells; deserted, dark parking garages; and abandoned, emptied indoor swimming pools. Arks' The International captures that tour. The raucous, angular rock reverberates as if recorded surrounded by cinder block walls. Mark Berlin's engineering/production (along with Arks) makes the album echo without overpowering the band's sounds. It creates a very live, dark, haunting, challenging call to musical arms. Note: On "Safe and Sound," Paul Hornschemeier's vocals are like a cameo by Lenny Kravitz in his more darker, spoken moments.

Arks is no more, but the members are together in various combinations in the bands: Music Hall and Builder/Destroyer

The International is still available, and definitely worth it, from Highwheel Records