San Francisco Blog

New Pumptitude: ArnoCorps

If cheesy Teutonic accents, hard rock clichés, an obsession with Arnold Schwarzenegger films, and lots of bulging muscles are your thing, ArnoCorps (winner of the 2008 SF Weekly Reader's Poll for "Best San Francisco Rock Band/Musician") is your band. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but the release of the new Terminator movie has coincided with increased visibility for "The Greatest Band of All Time" (which happened to be the title of their last CD). In April, Arnocorps signed a deal with Vulcan Sky records -- a label founded by "body builder turned heavy metal frontman" Jon Miki Thor - and announced the release of their Ballsy EP (song titles include the self-explanatory "You Lack Discipline," the Terminator-inspired "Rise of the Machines," and the testosterone-pumping "I'm Ballsy"). As a Vulcan Sky press release notes, "Although a native of Vancouver, Thor is of Austrian descent thus making the recording contract between Vulcan Sky and ArnoCorps a bond of blood with both Thor and ArnoCorps pledging to defend their national lore against its pilfering by Hollywood moguls."

Tomorrow night, Arnocorps and Thor co-headline a show of Conan-esque proportions (that's the Barbarian, not O'Brien) at Slim's, a Vulcan Sky showcase also featuring Freddie Flex and the Heavy Eric Sci-Fi Show, and Count Dante and the Black Dragon Fighting Society. If you go, just make sure you've been pumping iron and are in commando-like shape. As noted in their PR, "ArnoCorps are also no strangers to displays of strength and often set up a professional arm wrestling table at their shows, challenging their burliest audience members to tests of brawn." Steroids are optional, but only for girly-men. Tickets are here.