UP HIGH IN THE NIGHT

Free Williamsburg Up High In The Night review (5.2001)
7,025 out of 10,000: At first, Arlo seems the type of band to be dismissed as an amalgam of other bands: a little Smithereens, an unfortunate dose of The Offspring, Pavement a la Spiral Stairs, and remember The Outfield? One can hear some of their harmonies at points. Eventually this band rises above such comparisons and dismissals and takes on it's own shape. Good for them. Some songs on Up High in the Night chug along like unremarkable punk, but most of them display some differentiation that earns remark. Unexpected chord changes, rhythmic tacks, some oohing vocals are inserted in unlikely spots. Nice little guitar phrasings and harmonies pop here and there, giving the band quality. It's not blow your mind quality. I don't see myself putting Up High in the Night on my player every night. In fact, it might be a function of reviewing that gets this album reconsidered, what with the seeming obligation not to dismiss "Forgotten", the kick off track, might be better, well, forgotten, and sends those Outfield signals. "Sittin' on the Aces" recalls The Offspring, but fortunately eschews the wiseass, nothing to say obviousness of that band and delivers something more muscular and imaginative (cool ooh). "Lil' Magic" is it's own thing and "Nerf Bear Bonanza" takes the Spiral Stairs sound in a nice new direction (What will Spiral Stairs' album sound like? What if it's really good, like Stephen Malkmus'? That would be good. I like really good albums. Is he really calling the band some name other than Spiral Stairs? I think he should call it Spiral Stairs, because I like saying and typing Spiral Stairs.) The best tunes are "Oh Yeah" and "Shutterbug". "Oh Yeah" is a slow, marching number, that unrolls its melody like a royal carpet as the drums and guitars build as if to welcome the king. The simple "oh yeah" chorus works, and as you know, when "oh yeah" works, then oh yeah. "Shutterbug" has an infectiously catchy guitar part and some fine falsettos, and wouldn't be out of place on some teen movie soundtrack, yet doesn't make me want to kill the band. Those songs are also the most distinctly Arlo numbers, which bodes well for the future. Up High in the Night isn't a great record, but I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with something singular in the future.
-- Dan Kilian

Missoula Independent gig preview (5.24.2001)
Arlo and the Deathray Davies at Jay’s Upstairs Los Angeles-based Arlo, one of the two bands riding into Jay’s Upstairs this Tuesday on a magic carpet of melody, are no more a rock band than, say, the Pixies ever were. But peek between the folds of the big, burnished rock sound and you’ll find a similar penchant for making recondite hooks sound doh-obvious and adding occasional turns and potholed detours around what sound, ten seconds off in the distance, like perfectly driveable stretches of the road. Mostly, though, Arlo stay the course through uplifting and anthemic territory that the listener comes away from with a certain appreciation of heft and thickness in the pop.“Oh Yeah,” from their debut album on Sub Pop, Up High in the Night, is the perfect slice of summer-afternoon arena bliss with all the trimmings: little drummer boy pah-rum-pum-pum intro patter as vocalist Nate Greely (first line on this song: “Come on, baby”) confidently eases into the song on the heels of a guitar warming up for the big shimmer; restful plateaux of “oh yeah, oh yeah” and guitar trapezoids that make the ascending melody sound cleaner and steeper every time it comes back. Then comes the quantum reach into falsetto! It’s not rocket science or anything, but crimony, when they all land on a part at once, it’s beautiful.
by ANDY SMETANKA

Exclaim Up High In The Night review (4.6.2001)
Los Angeles pot-rockers Arlo will have you know they got the title of their album from an e.e. cummings poem, not from any sort of dopey giggle session. Surprisingly intelligent and solid songwriting, fairly heavy riffs and a good, clear vocal delivery from Nate Greely, with Sean Spillane (ex-Otto), makes this a very good rock pop disc. Working in the same universe as Nirvana and Screaming Trees, and drawing heavily from the Pixies and Guided By Voices, Arlo remains fresh and fun, and not at all as bland or stale as so many of their college-crowd pleasing contemporaries. Solid production and engineering jobs gives this album a finished but not overly polished sound, thankfully preserving some authenticity to this fine record.
Patrick Lejtenyi

Orange County Weekly Vol. 6 No. 30 (3.30.2001-4.5.2001)
Arlo Is Crap-Free
Do you know how rare that is?!
A.K.A. "Butt Tub"
About three weeks ago, I turned my back on the thankless task of always chasing what¹s new and decided instead to just listen to whatever the hell I want, regardless of how many friends I lose in the process.
But the real problem with rocking out to such un-phat beats as Andrew Lloyd Webber's cheesetastic musical Jesus Christ Superstar, which, don't laugh, I've been doing lately, is that you get lines like "this Jesus must, Jesus must, Jesus must die!" stuck in your head all day, and just try humming that in public without feeling like some kind of creepy freak.
But it¹s not just Jesus Christ Superstar. I've also been listening to this homemade La Cave lounge CD that features a delightful blend of shlocky spy themes and all-around syrupy, ballad-type crap, as well as early Pavement, Geraldine Fibbers and Arlo.
Arlo¹s where my rebellion breaks down: they¹re young; their album, Up High in the Night, is new; and I think they have a buzz. Damn it!
But still, I can¹t help that I love the album and have listened to it about 4 million times since I got it.
Of course, it doesn't really sound new. It sounds vaguely like early to mid-1990s indie guitar rock, and it manages somehow to walk that fine line between shimmering harmonies and a heavy, propulsive rhythm section without ever being so shimmering that it sounds like syrupy crap and also without ever being so heavy that it sounds like dissonant, sludgy crap.
Arlo is crap-free! Do you know how rare that is?
There¹s a reason much of the album evokes early '90s rock. "A bunch of the songs were written in 1995," says vocalist/ guitarist Sean Spillane, who, along with vocalist/guitarist Nate Greely, shares vocalist/guitarist duties.
It¹s a sad, sordid and yet also kind of boring tale of being strung along by the music industry, which is why the details are not worth going into, except for this one: Arlo have emerged triumphant, and an album of songs that should have been released years ago has finally come out.
USC graduates Greely and Spillane, along with a variety of rhythm sections, have been playing music together since they met at orientation their freshman year. For much of the time, they played under the name Otto, although they¹ve played under other, more exciting names as well.
"When we were doing our major-label hunt, they told us, 'You can't play under your real name because if they see you and you aren't playing well, it'll screw everything up.' So we were like, "How about Butt Tub?" recalls Spillane, an English major who thought he wanted to be a doctor until he realized he sucked at chemistry.
But Arlo, rounded out by bass player Schmedley and drummer Soup, who used to play in the LA band Holliston Stops, have managed to maintain a pretty good attitude despite the bullshit they endured. They signed to Sub Pop a little over a year ago, and "our lives have been much better since," says Spillane.
Up High in the Night, the title borrowed from an e.e. cummings poem, features one blatantly anti-music industry song, "Botched," which, according to Spillane, is about "how producers can make things out of shitty, untalented bands that go on to sell millions of records, and you have all these people toiling away for their whole lives and doing something worthwhile and not getting anything for it."
If he weren't in the band, Greely, who worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Daily News before quitting a month ago to "become a full-time rock star," thinks he¹d go back to school not only because he likes "reading and learning" but also because "I just really hate going into the world and having your goals be making money. It just doesn't inspire me at all. Learning, at least, is something that seems pretty worthwhile."
"Shutterbug," a Greely-penned tune on the album, is so innocently, achingly bittersweet that I can¹t listen to it without feeling near tears, which is weird since it's not even sad but is instead about the whimsical beginning of a summertime relationship. Maybe it's the fact that this relationship‹which subsequently turned sour (although they're really good friends now, according to Greely), pops up about four more times on the album, in its various forms of heartbreak, agony, getting back together and then breaking up again and getting back together and breaking up that makes "Shutterbug", about the time when everything was sweet and unshitty, so poignant.
Or maybe it's all the Jesus Christ Superstar I've been listening to that's left me near tears.
by Alison M. Rosen

Basement Life Up High In The Night Review (3.2001)
When a band just knows how to rock there's almost no point in trying to explain it. Arlo is the kind of band that you actually pay attention to when your sitting at a bar. They play music that can drive with enough force to knock you down, though they seem way too busy hanging out to ever bother with cranking it up that hard. Loving the Stones and probably having a full knowledge how tough Uncle Tupelo were, Arlo create mid-paced feel-good tunes with pop sensibilities and the prerequisite amount of attitude. Singers Nate Greely and Sean Spillane are just as comfortable with falsetto "woo hoos" as they are with straight ahead crooning, compelling harmonies, and perfect melodies to complement gravelly guitar riffs. There is nothing near groundbreaking on this record, but its simplicity is one of its greatest assets. The songs roll into one another sans any pretension and all the while congeal together to form a solid 12-track set that never attempts to be anything it's not. Up High in the Sky doesn't even really contain any stand out tracks in so much as it works best when the entire package is considered one. Seriously though, just open up a beer and put on the record. You probably won't be disappointed. (pd)

SLAMM Arlo: Sound Really Matters (Feature 3.2001)
Nate Greely is preparing for a gig at Mr. T's Bowl in Los Angeles, a regular appearance for him and the rest of his band. For Arlo, however, Mr. T’s is more than just a weekly gig -- it’s the source of something near and dear to their hearts.
"We named the band after our good friend, Arlo, the sound guy at Mr. T's,’ Greely says, describing what is possibly the greatest honor yet paid to a local soundman.
Arlo has just released its debut, Up High in the Night, on Sub Pop Records. The album boasts a mellow, kick-back vibe that underlies the group's unique vocal melodies. Originally known as Otto, the band was formed by Greely and his co-singer/guitarist, Sean Spillane, while studying at USC in 1994. "With Otto, we were more a no-vocal, Unwound [the band], noisy kind of punk rock band," explains Greely. "But soon we drifted more into classic rock and good melodies that people can sing along with."
After many configurations, the band's game of musical line-ups came to an end with the acquisition of Shmedley on bass and Soup on drums. "We moved into a filthy-ass little rehearsal space in Lasso Park in Los Angeles," Greely explains. "The album took us six months to record because we'd work at our day jobs then come home and record. Plus, we worked at a leisurely pace, which was really important to us."
The band did almost all the production on their computers, and the final product was mixed by Ben Vaughn, who's worked with Ween and done the music for numerous television shows, including That '70s Show. Citing the Pixies, Fugazi, and the Who as influences, Arlo's eclectic style comes through on Up High in the Night, an album named for the band’s fondness for e.e. cummings' poetry. Songs like "Nerf Bear Bonanza" and "Forgotten" evince their talent for ear-catching melodies and light guitar riffs. Other songs, like "Kenji" and "Lucid," reveal more of the pop side of the group's musical personality.
Arlo will tour the West Coast throughout March with Petrol and Rilow Kiley, hitting up the rest of the U.S. in June. If you want to see Arlo (the sound guy), you'll probably have to head up to L.A. As for Arlo the band, you can catch them at the Casbah.
Arlo (the band) plays with Petrol and Formula at the Casbah on March 13. For more info or tix, call (619) 232-HELL or (619) 220-TIXS.
by Vanessa Lops

Austin Chronicle SXSW preview (3.16.2001)
ARLO: If you've ever thought you might like the sound of Tom Petty doing bong hits in a van with Fu Manchu, have I got the band for you. L.A.'s Arlo come off a bit hazy, but never shady on their Sub Pop CD Up High In the Night, a foot-tapping hodgepodge of classic-rock hooks and not-quite-falsetto (but still pretty durn high-pitched) pop vocals. (Emo's, 9pm) -- Christopher Gray

Johns Hopkins Newsletter Up High In The Night Review (3.15.2001)
UP HIGH IN THE NINETIES
After "Forgotten," the anthemic opening track to Arlo's debut album Up High in the Night, with its call to "Use your erections to drill through the wall," listeners will likely be excited about this new group of L.A. indie rockers from the Sub Pop label. But where are these guys coming from? Isn't it kind of early to already be '90s retro? Whatever.
It still sounds great, especially "Kenji," "Shutterbug" and "Elena." There are two main vocalists, and one of them sounds kind of like Elvis Costello, and that's never a bad thing.
BY MATT O'BRIEN

Pop Culture Press Up High In The Night review (3.11.2001)
What happens when you mix Pixies mentality with Beatlesque melodies? And then, just for fun, throw in some Beach Boys harmonies? Chances are, it would sound something like Arlo. On their debut album, Up High In The Night, you get all of the above and then some. While not straying too far from typical rock/pop structures, Arlo manages to write insanely catchy songs-it's enough to make other like-minded bands insanely jealous. They have that hook. Their melodies have the ability to get stuck in your head and stick around for a bit. Songs like "Nerf Bear Bonanza" and "Shutterbug" are super-hummable. With lo-fi sensibilities and a very DIY feel, it's clear that Up High in the Night was cooked up in a home studio, but that does nothing but add to its charms. And charm is something Arlo is chock full of. How could you not adore a band who's album title affectionately namechecks e.e. cummings? The boys of Arlo have done well for themselves. Up High In The Night is the type of debut to be very proud of. (Nik Ramirez)

Arizona Daily Wildcat Up High In The Night review (2.1.2001)
Whatever happened to alternative rock? Recent years have seen this once-ubiquitous moniker fade to obscurity, torn to shreds by a horde of market-driven subgenres and sub-subgenres - rap-rock, rap-metal, ska-funk-metal and so on.
The original meaning of alternative - honest, no-nonsense rock 'n' roll - has been forgotten, buried beneath white pancake makeup, stadium rock shows and pre-fabricated, "edgy" cartoon characters like Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit and the Insane Clown Posse.
Perhaps this is why Up High in the Night is such a breath of fresh air. The members of Arlo are regular guys in T-shirts, not dolled-up hair-salon casualties. Singer-guitarists Nate Greely and Sean Spillane are just parts of the band, not histrionic, celebrity pinups. And Arlo's sound - a tuneful mix of buzzing guitar chords, unpolished singing and rough-hewn rock 'n' roll rhythms - recalls the days when "alternative" was more than a fading marketing scheme.
Tracks like "Sittin' on the Aces," a grungy ode to confusion, stress and wasting time, mix seamlessly with pop numbers like the shimmering "Shutterbug," a tuneful love poem to a photo bug complete with Beach Boy-style falsettos on the chorus.
Sub-pop built its name on this kind of unpretentious, "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" rock back in the early '90s, so it is heartening to see that they're still with it. At a time when style-over-substance spectacles rule rock and the top five "alternative" acts increasingly resemble either underwear models or junkie circus performers, we need bands like Arlo to remind us what rock - for rock's sake - is all about.
By Phil Leckman
Grade: B+

Ink 19 Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
Hard and catchy pop songs that swirl and rock. Sometimes I catch hints of an almost Pond inspired psychedelic twist in the mix between the guitar and vocals, but only a taste. The band can lull you into a false sense of security, as they kick back and just lay down a smooth and soft song, like a day at the beach, and then they jump up and kick you with an energy filled number that gets you shaking your head. As soon as you get going, they bring it back down to a heavy steady groove. Some bands might annoy the hell out of me doing this up and down, but Arlo have a sound that moves perfectly through the songs. Whether it's the singer's voice that glides with a slight scratch or the distortion that wraps around the guitar like sonic velvet, I don't know. I just know that the way it moves makes me move.
-Marcel Feldmar

Music.com Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
Paying tribute to the finest spirited rock’n’roll music of the last thirty years – think The Replacements, The Rolling Stones, Guided By Voices, and Mudhoney – Los Angeles quartet Arlo is more than just a mere garage band. And with Up High In The Night, the debut offering from the collective formerly known as Otto, these fellas play in an edgy style like they’ve got alcohol on their breath and, more importantly, conviction in their hearts.
Ripe riffage and pumping drums on “Forgotten” has Arlo [Nate Greely (guitar/vocals), Sean Spillane (guitar), Schmedley (bass) and Soup (drums)] effortlessly recalling early Soul Asylum while the group’s first-ever A-side, a murky upbeat rocker “Sittin’ On The Aces,” has just enough Mark Arm-meets-Steve Miller-styled contagion to keep it buzzing around your head.
Other peak points on Up High… include the hoppin’ sunny rocker “Shutterbug,” which reveals Greely’s apparent Brian Wilson/Rivers Cuomo obsessions; “Lucid,” with its space-invaded infectious Pixies vibe and a splendid refrain (“Swimmer in the skyline / Rebel in a strange time”), and the irresistibly offbeat groove of “Loosen Up.”
Lazy drum thumps and minor chords on “Lil’ Magic” – which sounds like an outtake from The Del Fuegos’ Boston, Mass – and the off-the-cuff sloppiness “Oh Yeah” exclude the boys from undeviating greatness, but they still manage to delight and inspire by going out with a bang on “Botched,” which is anything but. Opening with a needle-popping sample the finale escalates into a sonic orchestration of guitar, bass, and drums that recalls the genius of the Flaming Lips circa In A Priest Driven Ambulance.
If anything, Arlo resuscitates the spirit of the early ‘90s, Lou Barlow-penned, anthem “Gimme Indie Rock.” Sure, they underachieve on occasion, but when they hit their mark these scruffy cats are supreme.
-- John D. Luerssen --

Maxim Online Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
Bands like Arlo make pop music sound really fucking easy. Of course, these days, the term “pop music” has come to mean the industry-driven drivel spewed out by primped and pedicured teenagers who oughta be working at the Gap. But on their debut, Up High in the Night, Arlo reclaims pop for all the teenagers who spent their days smoking pot, listening to Pixies and Big Star records on a beat-up, old boombox. With majestic guitar tones and crisp, clean drumming, the LA-based quartet work their asses off to make sure these 12 infectious tunes sound completely effortless. Tight and polished without being saccharine and slick, Up High lacks a little in the way of grit, but its well-crafted hooks make up for it, bouncing through tracks like “Shutterbug” and the absurd story-song, “Kenji,” and reminding us why we bought all those Matthew Sweet and Weezer records back in the mid-’90s.
By: David Peisner

E Online Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
Fuzzy like a bear, hooky like a fishing lure, punchy like anyone dumb enough to get in the ring with Mike Tyson, the guys in Arlo sound like they got lost in the indie-rock woods back in '94 and are just now making their way out. Which is not to say they lack direction, especially in light of such pop-rockers as "Forgotten" and the brilliantly titled "Nerf Bear Bonanza." Nor is it to say that they sound out of place in 2001. It's just that the band's tailor-made for the slacker set still reading deep comics while sitting behind the counter of the town's last remaining used bookstore. In fact, such tunes as "Lil' Magic" and "Shutterbug" might even have a broader base of listeners wistfully longing for the days when Dinosaur Jr. still existed and Goo Goo Dolls still mattered.

Aversion.com Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
Somewhere between the end of the lo-fi phenomenon and the onset of the emo craze a great big heap of indie rock types put a bullet in the head of having any hopes of fitting in with any mass underground movement with a hope for sustainable artistic integrity, and chose to throw it in full-time with styles that could only be inadequately described by the amorphous "indie rock" tagline.
Arlo’s debut, Up High In the Night is one of those very hard-to-pin-down records that seems as set to throw a monkey wrench into the worlds of compartmentalized rock’n’roll as it is to rock. Fortunately for Arlo, its ability to rock doesn’t depend on its hope of fitting into a style with a cutesy name, nor does the band’s lack of a well defined group of compatriots make this album any less stellar. With the rough-around-the-edges power of West Coast indie rock coupled with a grunting low end that makes the band’s songs even more explosive, Arlo chases away any specters of doubt about loud rock’s ability to sound relevant in the new millennium.
Up High In the Night is the sort of record we’d expect to hear blasting out of car radios across the nation had the Pixies never dissolved, Kurt Cobain hadn’t wacked himself, and acts like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and the Smashing Pumpkins hadn’t whittled away alternative rock’s grassroots momentum with bloated rock mentalities. There’s not much that’s too polished to considered for much more than a second in Arlo’s sound, a fact that fills this album to the brim with pure rock’n’roll fun. Singer/guitarists Nate Greely and Sean Spillane aren’t playing in the name of fragile art rock, nor are they hefting the hammer of rampant testosterone; they’re simply rocking out as average joes.
Up High In the Night is a long way from average, however. From the poppy guitar crunch and vocal harmonies of "Shutterbug" that hints at the power and the beauty of the Posies, to the pure rock’n’roll of "Nerf Bear Bonanza," which parades a thick low end as well as violently fuzzed out guitars, Arlo throws up an almost impenetrable sonic wall, though the band consistently manages to keep its arrangements and production just this side of brow-beating. There’s only a hair’s breadth separating Arlo’s vigorous pop-rock from falling into the morass of nth generation alternative rock, but that’s all the quartet needs to make its songs work.

CMJ New Music Monthly Up High In The Night review (Feb.2001)
It sounds as if the boys in Arlo have been living in something of a creative cocoon since 1992, keeping themselves safely isolated from the chain reaction leading up to nu metal (beginning with grunge), and instead fixating on the scruffy fuzz of indie rock and the sugar rush of early alternative. The debut from this Los Angeles foursome, Up High In The Night, is refreshingly out of touch, the work of a collective mind obsessed with the quickest way to the catchiest chorus. It takes 10 seconds for you to be able to sing along with "Kenji" - Arlo gives up the bubblegum instantly, with the silly refrain "Kenji got run over: affixed to a ditzy Evan Dando-esque hook. "Forgotten" opens with sweet anticipation, an ascending riff packed with feel-good overtones that gleefully crash right into the chorus, a tight bundle of crunchy chords and soaring harmonies. On "Shutterbug," they cop the Pixies' trick of using surf-rock guitar melody to make a mid-tempo pop shimmy positively sublime. "Elena," "Lucid" and "Botched" are like those go-nowhere ballads that Pavement used to subject us to: clanky guitars, a slow stumbling pulse and nothing to offer the listener but slacker mush in the end. Overall, it's a "little bit of us, little bit of them" approach to songcraft, but that's just the way all great pop evolves-just ask Alex Chilton. >>>Lorne Behrman
Out: January 16
File Under: Back-in-the-day alternative
R.I.Y.L.: The Pixies, Pavement, the Lemonheads

House of Blues Up High In The Night review (1.29.2001)
For the most part the city of Los Angeles suffers from a contradictory ailment of lacking distinction, while at the same time being able to carry the weight of being like nowhere else in the world. Similarly, resident indie band Arlo falls somewhere within the confines of this nebulous definition. Their attack on the world of alt-rock pulls from a number of sources that helped define the now waning genre and does so with such a vigor that they risk failing to find their own sound amid their passion-filled influences.
Nevertheless, the risk pays off for Arlo as they deliver a tightly crafted, although at times vaguely derivative, collection of tunes soaked in the subtle aroma of a suburban garage. You can hear the subtle conflict of a band constantly inclined to find a catchy melody verses the burning desire to crank out a distortion filled rock romp. But with the spirit of the Pixies as their guide and a charming dose of their own rock bravado, Arlo slip into a sort of alternative reverie that makes their debut record something to take notice of, while buffing your anticipation for the time when they rise above their listening and place their stamp on a sound surely waits for it. The question is not "if it will happen," merely "when." The promise is spread all over Up High In The Night and in the meantime this first effort works on enough levels to make the lack of distinction something more of an homage than a mimicry. -Albert Torres

Nashville Rage Up High In The Night review (1.25.2001)
Following their propulsive pop Sub Pop single Sittin' on the Aces, L.A.-based Arlo now release their debut album, Up High in the Night. The record is a collection of Weezer-ish ironic anthems that have more than a touch of '70s AOR influence. The album stands as a revival of the early '90s sentiment of hook-heavy, harmony-drenched choruses and dual guitar-driven three-minute shots of pop-rock pleasure. No noodling and no intense listening required. They're fun without being too stupid, and have more in common with Sub Pop signees of several years ago, rather than the current crop of emocore headbangers. Humorous lyrics abound, from the beckoning line in Forgotten to "Use your erections to drill through the wall" to the narrative about a friend's failed demo session in Kenji ("My friend's demo turned out pretty bad/But I got the best on Frogger that I ever had."). If it were 1996, Arlo would have just emerged from a major label bidding war and Kenji would subsequently have become a summer smash on "alternative" radio along the lines of Nada Surf or Superdrag. Let's hope this is the first signal of a nerd rock resurgence.
- Jason Moon Wilkins

CMJ Up High In The Night review (1.22.2001)
If indie rock fans are feeling unsettled by the popularity of electronic music and underground hip-hop, then Arlo just might be the call-to-arms they need to strengthen the cause. Granted, that may sound a bit militant, but the band's defiant, unbridled guitar-based sound has an enthusiastic urgency that carries an air of importance. If nothing else, it seems to be an impassioned calling for Arlo - and from the sounds of it, one the band acquired while wearing out the grooves of the debut album from its L.A. brethren, Weezer. Up High In The Night is rich with pleasantly cooed vocal harmonies, snarky humor, pop culture references and more hooks than a meat locker. Song topics include everything from the typical road trip ("Nerf Bear Bonanza") and the dangers of home recording ("Kenji"), to the various problems within the music industry ("Botched").
- Kelso Jacks: CMJ New Music Report Issue: 698 - Jan 22, 2001

Orange County Register Up High In The Night review (1.19.2001)
Arlo, "Up High in the Night" (Sub Pop) - Indie-rock á la Jets to Brazil with more inviting tunes and featuring two vocalists who have gently updated already successful poses - one switching between Dexter Holland's punky half-shout and the nasal sweetness of Billie Joe Armstrong, the other tweaking Jeff Tweedy's blue-collar rasp. The raw production is a plus; really does sound like it was recorded in someone's garage, only with reliable equipment, yet that never detracts from its melodicism. And those co-leaders of this L.A. outfit, Nate Greely and Sean Spillane, have devised some expert cuts, with just enough meat to make them succulent but not flabby. Definitely worthwhile. Grade: B+
BEN WENER

Seattle Weekly Up High In The Night review (1.18.2001)
ARLO, Up High in the Night (Sub Pop) It's early in 2001, and already another Los Angeles pop band have been reeled into the artist flophouse at Fourth and Wall. But unlike Sub Pop predecessors Beachwood Sparks, who weaned their crystal sounds on band members' infatuation with Buffalo Springfield and the Kinks, Arlo sharpen their four-piece rumble on gritty Let It Bleed-era Rolling Stones and the crash-and-burn rhythm section of the early-'70s Who. The latter arrived courtesy of Shmedley and Soup, the band's third bassist-and-drummer combo. Formerly of LA's Holliston Stops, they hooked up with longtime Otto duo Nate Greely and Sean Spillane (guitarists and vocalists) just in time to change that band's moniker to Arlo--not for Guthrie, but a local club soundman. Recorded at Arlo's home studio and produced by Philadelphian Ben Vaughn, the 12-song debut plugs into a roller coaster ride of pop songs--from the Humble Pie-like rocker "Nerf Bear Bonanza" to the nastiest of Pixies riffs ("Sittin' on the Aces" and "Lucid"), there are choruses that leave you humming ("Forgotten"), a frolicsome sing-along about a dog that "got run over" ("Kenji"), and the grievous rallying cry of "Loosen Up," in which Greely and Spillane sermonize, "You had it/I lost it/And we'll never get it back again." An auspicious introduction that must be played loud.--Scott Holter

Las Vegas Weekly Up High In The Night review (1.11.2001)
You gotta admire a band that has the guts to use the lyrics, "use your erections to drill through the wall" and has a drummer named Soup. If it's the old, '95-ish, "Alternative Nation" you've been nostalgic for, then the LA-based Arlo might ease your Kennedy-deprived angst. Easily college-radio fare, the youthful band's first full-length album on Sub Pop, called Up High in the Night, is a fun, slightly intense, goofy ride. Arlo's definitely done its musical homework--smoking pot to the Pixies, Guided by Voices, The Stones and The Who--and has sustained its great sense of smartass humor as well. The mix comes through in the tracks. It doesn't hurt that the band recorded with people who've spent time with Ween and Jane's Addiction, too. Arlo picks up where Weezer left off--producing fuzzy, classic-rock inspired, pop songs that glide into one another with ease, inducing intense cravings for a "Happy Days" marathon on Nick at Nite. Most notable is probably the Beach Boys' inspired surfer-rock of "Shutterbug," which even makes use of the "ooo, ooo, ooo's." Arlo even breaks into some modern-rock ramblings with the Lenny Kravitz-like "Oh Yeah," and exhibits some Foo Fighting qualities on most of the songs--catchy choruses and raging electric guitars--which, admittedly, isn't the most mind-blowing shit in the world. But it sure doesn't sound bad either. Which means it's perfect for all those late-night herbal excursions.
--Molly Brown

Live Magazine Up High In The Night review (1.7.2001)
I do not know where to begin with this band, because they are truly amazing and one of the best Indy rock bands I have heard this past year. This band is on Sub Pop records, with a 12 song EP, and a 7 inch called "Sittin on the Aces," which I am sure rocks as well. Every song is great on here, and there is no need to skip around. The Indy rock goodness gets better and better as the album plays. Their sound is upbeat, but not too pop. It has the Weezer, and UltimateFakebook sound going on, that all us dorks love. Its unbelievably cute when guys sing happy and do that "Oooh ooooh oooh" thing. This CD starts off with a song called "Forgotten" that's one of my favorites, with melodic yet ruff guitar riffs and the singers edgy voice flowing over lyrics like " look for reasons I Forgotten". It's a pure treat and it gets better with the song "Nerf Beer Bonanza" that is an upbeat tune that goes "I'd go to California, cause the people there are nicer and they're hoochies, they don't wear so many clothes". Whoa! I disagree with the people being nicer part! However, the part about the hoochies sounds about right, there are plenty of them around here. The song "Oh Yeah" is also a nice little melody, which is sung with emotional vocals that are ever so cute. I loved this CD and you will too if you dig the indy nerd rock. I recommend this CD to everyone.
-ACDS

CDNow Up High In The Night review (1.5.2001)
If L.A.-based quartet Arlo's Up High in the Night has a somewhat schizophrenic quality, it isn't just due to the fact that the band is fronted by the differing vocals of co-singer-guitarists Nate Greely and Sean Spillane, who lend the album both Nirvana- and Green Day-like qualities. Before Arlo -- formerly known as Otto -- settled down to its current regular lineup, Up High utilized the skills of several different bassists and drummers. Whatever the internal struggles surrounding its birth, this emo-punk pop debut bubbles along quite nicely, albeit in an ad-hoc, garage-like manner. Arlo's budget conscious, home-grown approach shows in a raw, frill-free production, which adds idiosyncratic charm to Arlo's gung-ho '90s indie rock redux.
Linda Laban CDNOW Contributing Writer