It's time for our 199th monthly CD review and first one of 2026, and after a Christmassy detour last month, we're back on our backlog's timeline by release date, and while we're a few months behind, that's nothing given how long this album has been in the works! This month's review is of defunct local grunge/alt-rock trio No Arrow's album "Souls For Sale", which was finally released on July 21st after first being recorded in 2009 midway through the band's original run! The posthumous release is through Mike Haggith's indie label MorningStar Records, where it is exclusive to physical formats through their print-on-demand supplier ElasticStage, and is not on most major streaming services. Recorded locally at the time and mastered in the UK by Chris Daniels, No Arrow are represented here by future SBD singer/guitarist Dann "Wayek" Pichette and Faithless Sin alum Joe Falco on drums, with Quite Frankly bassist Harley Syrette featured on all but two songs.
Harley's replacement Brad "Gortium85" Griffith (later of Bizotic) plays bass on the remaining two tracks, while a guest guitarist named Lutz Wille appears on "Lighter". You can buy "Souls For Sale" at this link on vinyl for $43.90 or on CD for $17.90, though be advised that the vinyl pressing omits "Most Of All" due to the 23 minutes-per-side space limitations given ElasticStage's printing methods ("Cuts" moves from the end of the album to replace it as track #6 there). While not on Spotify and them, Dann has freshly uploaded all 12 songs from "Souls For Sale" to his YouTube channel, so if you want to stream them for free, do so there or via the song names below!
With 12 songs running for about 49 minutes (on the CD), let's begin this album review, over 16 years in the making! No Arrow lead off here with "Genocyde Revealing Pt. 1", which gets off to a very 1960s psychedelic vibe to start (how SBD of them) before the song gets into grungy territory, with a pacing and melody not unlike Nirvana's "Breed", but with more measured verse singing. The chorus is where this song takes a bit of a step back, as it comes off too chaotic and messy with Joe's drumming not really gelling with Dann's vocals. Intro aside, this doesn't reinvent the wheel for fans of early 1990s grunge, but it's a fun rocker that would be ideal to start their set with, even with my chorus points! Next up is "Sikkha", A nice raw sound to this one with really solid kick drum work from Joe early, and Dann lets off some welcomed force and anger in his singing early!
Mid-way through, the tempo slows down for an effective but short bridge that launches back into the hard rocking with a primal scream from Dann, and with a catchy guitar riff throughout, a more original freewheeling structure, a solid (if somewhat buried) solo, and thumping rhythms, this is easily a highlight of "Souls For Sale", and highly recommended for genre fans! Third is "Lighter", featuring Lutz Wille (who I am 100% unfamiliar with) on guest guitar. True to its name, this is is a lighter and airier song that would translate well to an acoustic format if they ever went that route, though it still has distorted guitar and an alt-rock edge that slightly picks up on the bridge, plus an outro of what sounds like surfing the radio dial. The pacing and casual nature of it doesn't suit No Arrow's skill set (to me), so while well performed, I prefer their harder edged and faster stuff overall.
Song #4 is "Delayed Reaction", which brings back the heavier stylings with strong bashing of the skins by Joe and a strong lead guitar riff, but interestingly, the choruses are slow and measured whereas the verses are balls to the wall. Honestly, the guitar work feels a little proggy to me, which goes in line with Dann's known fandom of early Pink Floyd, but this is very much a heavy track. Catchy and strongly performed, but the choruses do stall the momentum enough for me to not prefer it to "Sikkha" despite a lot of good intensity on offer! Next is the shortest song on offer, namely the title track "Souls For Sale", which is a tighter and more direct grunge rocker with pointed vocals, a gritty & in-your-face guitar riff, and solid bass work from Harley, plus a spacey flourish in some of the instrumental sections. Nothing too shocking, but if you want a straightforward song for genre fans, this is it!
The first half of the CD ends (or the second half of the vinyl begins) with "One On The Line", which is the most punk-inflected song on the album yet, and it's another strong bass showcase for Harley while letting the guys let loose with something a little different, but Dann's vocals are more buried in the mix here, especially on the choruses (where only "I don't mind" comes through with any clarity). Musically, this feels the most like "organized chaos", so to speak, but it does end somewhat abruptly. Fun diversion but I wish Dann's singing was more consistently clear. Next is the song that Dann opted to drop from the vinyl copies of "Souls For Sale", namely "Most Of All", which is also the first of two tracks with Brad on bass. This is a medium paced rock song with more of an indie influence but still with grungy distortion. Joe's drumming is a highlight here, and Brad acquits himself well also!
While not an intense, fast grunge track aside from Dann's vocals, it works well enough and is structured well without any major gaps. Perhaps Dann didn't like it as much as other songs, hence why it was dropped from the vinyl copies, but honestly, I don't think it's the worst song here. We next get "Substitute Victim", featuring Brad in his last turn as a performer on the disc. Things get dialed up to a fast tempo with a punk influence, which all sounds good, but why are the vocals so processed here? It sounds like Dann's singing in a tunnel! We even get a bit of a guitar solo here, and Joe's drumming is really good, but the song feels so over-processed in post-production, and if you listen to the whole album, this really sticks out like a sore thumb in spite of the guys' strong musicianship. Harley returns for track #9, "The Pissing Song", which runs for an album-high 6+ minutes.
Luckily, the processing from "Substitute Victim" does not recur here, so we get to purely hear the guys in action, though there is some layered-in background spoken word at the midpoint. The song does kind of meander in the later stretches, but the riffs and vocals are strong, and Dann lets out some solid screams here! A lot could have been edited out of this song without losing the essential bits, but early on, No Arrow fans will be right at home with the hard hitting alt-rock! Tenth up is the long awaited "Genocyde Revealing Pt. 2" (why not make it track #2 or #12?), and you can tell how this song must have been so casually performed despite having the requisite catchiness and a full-on grunge vibe that feels straight out of 1992 rather than 2009! Not a lot of vocals here, but it gets the point across and it is a fitting companion piece to the album opener that everyone performs well on!
The penultimate song on "Souls For Sale" is "Colderside Of The Sun" (yes, "Colderside" is one word here), which has more of a "stream of consciousness" vibe, including a relatively repetitive instrumental line, more droning clean vocals from Dann, and more of a jam rock vibe in the back half, including an extended guitar solo. I can see how this would have played well in a live concert, but to me, it ran too long as a studio offering and kinda lost its way despite hearing Dann let loose more on the six strings. A good song but a better jam than it is a composition, if that makes sense. The CD ends with "Cuts" (bumped to the end of side A on vinyl), and after a minute of Joe repetitively & methodically hitting a drum while his bandmates slowly joined in, the song finally kicks into gear with more of a doomy vibe that offers a late variance in sound while still fitting in with No Arrow's existing range!
Again, this is a song that Dann stops singing in for the back half, but it's less of an extended jam, so it still has more of a defined rock structure. Some heavy and deliberate riffs and a direct mood help give this album an effective ending, even if I do prefer my No Arrow to be faster and more raucous. So, what are my final thoughts on No Arrow's long-gestating album now that it's finally on sale? I'm just glad to finally see it out beyond loose/free uploads, and it delivers a fun and varied mix that fans of early 1990s grunge and alternative rock will be fully on board with! It is serendipitous that the namesake of 2010s' big local grunge band Haggith helped Dann finally get "Souls For Sale" over the finish line after 16 years, but if we're being honest, No Arrow always suited the genre more for performance style and attitude, and you can see that in spades with this album!
The songs all sound as good (if not better) than the prior free copies did, and "Sikkha" in particular shows off what Dann, Harley, and Joe could do at their full powers! Dann had strong and well suited vocals, the guitar work suited where each song was going, Harley was always a great bassist (as is Brad), and Joe's loud and rollicking drumming was underrated then and now! I did find that the opening half of the album (side A, if you were) was better then the back half, more or less. In terms of issues, I would have severely dialed back the processing on "Substitute Victim", "The Pissing Song" could have been edited down a lot (I'd have dropped either in favour of "Most Of All" on vinyl), and I would have liked more guitar solos than we got, but you can't knock the experimentation in styles (especially late), which portended the more psychedelic and progressive material that Dann and Brad did with SBD.
Kudos to Mike Haggith for helping get "Souls For Sale" on sale (natch), let alone their paths crossing for networking in those "independent DIY musician showcase" YouTube channels, and if you're a fan of grunge and 1990s alt-rock, you'll enjoy what No Arrow brought to the table a lot! Maybe SBD's "Sonic Experiments" will get a MorningStar/ElasticStage reissue next? Buy/stream everything above, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! Our backlog continues next month with Sykotyk Rampage's latest album "WYRD Radio 3: The Midnight Horror Show", so look for that in February, and for more news and notes on the site soon! Thanks everyone!
