The output of the majority of "supergroups" can be summed up with "cool idea, so-so execution." Those that succeed end up actually writing, and aren't just satisfied by the idea of talented people in proximity to one another. The Arcs most assuredly succeed on "Yours, Dreamily," offering the answer to a question you didn't even know you wanted answered: How would Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys; Richard Swift of the Shins and a touring member of the Black Keys; Homer Steinweiss and Nic Movshon of soul revivalists the Dap-Kings; and El Michels Affair leader Leon Michels, founder of Truth&Soul Records, sound if you put them all together? Like one of the world's baddest yet dreamiest garage-soul bands — that's what. Adding in the ladies of Flor de Toloache, Americana artist Kenny Vaughan, and soul shouter Lee Fields (deployed strategically on the gauzy "Nature's Child") just adds sweet and salty seasoning. Coproduced and primarily co-written by Auerbach and Michels, "Yours, Dreamily" satisfyingly careers from gauzy, reverb-soaked late-night soundscapes to raucous, fuzzy freak-outs.
SARAH RODMAN
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ESSENTIAL "Everything You Do (You Do for You)"