Anarbor

The Natural Way

Written by: MR on 01/10/2008 12:17:03

Hmm.. What to say.. What to say.. Anarbor... The singer is talented, the band's playing is quite tight, and the production isn't anything to complain about. Hailing from the US, the band reminds me a bit of the negotiations going on in the politics to solve the financial crisis: They are a bit late. Anarbor will in no way save the sinking ship that the Fall Out Boy-era (my own interpretation, I'm a freaking trend killer) has become, there are loads of these kind of bands in the states right now. These party bands play it safe and don't contribute anything to the evolution of rock music, then become one-hit-wonders .

I know Anarbor would like to consider themselves rock or something. "Hell no!" is what I'm thinking, though. The distortion on the guitars is so polished that what should sound nice and rough has been turned into a little puppy. I'm sure this works on a 14 year old who maybe doesn't grasp the substance in rock and loves Tokio Hotel, because it's not really rock, but it's not Britney Spears either, which will give justification for listening to it.

I have two nice things to say about Anarbor's four song EP. First off, the lyrics are quite decent. If you have the patience to listen to them, they are actually clean of cliché and moral simplifications. The other thing is the 3rd song on the EP, "Right There With You", which in some ways reaches their potential. It has a good feeling and the howling choir in the chorus is catchy and very appropriate. But this is where it peaks for me.

Otherwise there are a lot of things on the small record to dislike. The riffs are totally forgettable and the melodies have been heard before. If these guys came 4 years earlier I probably would have been more impressed but you know how they say: Been there, done that.

5

Download: Right There WIth You
For The Fans OF: Fall Out Boy, Orson
Listen: Myspace

Release 19.08.2008
Hopeless Records

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