Press
“Joey Arroyo Is…Aggressive” CD Review
Phoenix New Times
By: Michael Lopez
“…Their latest album Is…Aggressive shows these guys can actually write decent songs, play their instruments well and sing. Oh praise the heavens, a local band lead by someone with some actual vocal talent! Yes, a singer who can sing… Can you imagine it?
…Granted, rock is a genre that can be stagnant and often uninspired, but JaB manage to create — in Aggressive’s 31 minutes (perfect album length) — a varied sound that employs pianos, a flamenco-sounding guitar and some damn fine drumming. That flamenco guitar, paired with some Darkness-esque guitar riffs creates an inspired pairing on “Devil’s Stare.” Throw in a crescendo-building, frenetic chorus — lead by Arroyo’s vocals — and out comes one fascinating, entertaining song.
On Is…Aggressive I can hear the inspiration and that goes a whole hell of a long way, especially when dealing with smaller, local bands trying to make their mark. Joey Arroyo Band has an absolute talent in their lead singer, but the band doesn’t just rest on that. No, they mix different rock styles, craft some great riffs and keys and pull it off with the swagger of a bigger, more renown band. Joey Arroyo has the chops, indeed, but so do the rest of his bandmates.”
Live Show Review
Phoenix New Times
John LaBarbera
“Joey is certainly a top-notch front man, with as much energy and dance moves as a pre-geriatric Mick Jagger…As for The Joey Arroyo Band’s performance, I’ll just go ahead and quote Jimmy J.J. Walker and tell you it was “Dy-No-Mite!” Before it even started, the crowd stood loudly in the dark shouting “Woo! Joey!” and the like.”
Hot Five Concerts
College Times
“The local boys of the Joey Arroyo Band bring their melodic sound to Tempe. Hear them perform “6th and Mill,” just a few blocks away from the song’s namesake.”
“Joey Arroyo Is…The Storyteller” CD Review
Phoenix New Times
By: John LaBarbera
“…With that, The Joey Arroyo Band have a distinct sound and they let it show. Once the last note of the album hit (which is really more of a fade out) I was left thinking, “That’s it? I want MORE!” And it goes by fast, too, with only one song, “Sugar in My Coffee,” the best on the album, going over five minutes.
They sound like Jason Mraz without the pandering, and John Mayer without the self-indulgence: A perfect combination of acoustic and electric guitars with every other instrument necessary to bring these musical stories to life.
And the best things is, Joey Arroyo is just a fantastic songwriter. Period. Not a single track from this album felt like a throw-away tune just to fill an album quota. Every song had some kind of meaning, whether existential or rooted to the ground.
If Joey Arroyo Is… The Storyteller is any indication of the next five releases; this group just might become my favorite local act. And that’s a bold statement.”
Kill MTV Acoustic Performance News
“Finding great singer/songwriters is hard these days. There’s hardly anymore Paul Simon’s, James Taylor’s or Neil Diamond’s around these parts. Joey Arroyo is the real deal. There really hasn’t been a popular singer/songwriter since Chris Carabba came out with Dashboard Confessional, so I think that kids are ready to see some honest songwriting with great melodies.”
