The band is named after Arkell Street in the Westdale neighbourhood of Hamilton,[4] near McMaster University, where they lived and would practice their music.

All five original band members attended McMaster where lead singer Max Kerman graduated with an honours BA in political science.

Kerman met guitarist Mike DeAngelis at a McMaster Welcome Week event where they discovered they had an identical taste in music.

[11] In April 2010, the band won the Juno Award for New Group of the Year,[12][13] and on May 15, 2010, were picked to open for Them Crooked Vultures at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

[16] On April 7, 2014, Arkells released the first track, "Never Thought That This Would Happen", from their third album, which was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, The Kooks, M83).

One month later, on May 13, the band released the album's first single "Come to Light", and confirmed the title of the record would be High Noon.

[31] On June 23, 2018, Arkells hosted a major hometown concert, dubbed "The Rally", at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario.

The concert was paired with several events across the city including a market outside the stadium, a bike ride to the show, and featured Ellevator, Bishop Briggs, and Cold War Kids.

[32] Arkells released their fifth studio album, Rally Cry, on October 19, 2018, accompanied by a Canadian tour featuring Lord Huron as the opening act.

[34] Each member recorded his part at home during the COVID-19 quarantine and sent it to Carone, who then edited, mixed and produced the pieces into complete songs.

[37] On December 12, 2021, the band performed at the halftime show of the 108th Grey Cup at Tim Horton's Field in Hamilton.

The album features collaborations with Cold War Kids, Aly and AJ, Tegan and Sara and Beatrice Martin.

[39] After two years of postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the band held the second edition of "The Rally" at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario on June 25, 2022.

[44] To celebrate the release of the record, the band held two free pop-up shows at laundromats in Toronto and Hamilton, where they played individual tracks for small group audiences of fifteen people.