REVIEW: The Anniversary, Designing A Nervous Breakdown
(Heroes and Villains / Vagrant)
- Kerwin So
Well kids, spring is approaching soon. Greet the coming sunshine with the gleeful tidings of this debut album from Lawrence, KS, band The Anniversary. If you took smooth power chords and New Wave-inspired synthesizers, and melted them together into the visceral mold of post-hardcore, you would get this band. They don't recall the Pixies or Devo so much as the Rentals and Velocity Girl, and believe me, those are high compliments.
Perhaps I was being a tad glib -- although The Anniversary's music could certainly be described as sunny and sweet, a closer inspection of the lyrics sheet reveals themes of yearning, nostalgia, and forbidden love. Take, for instance, the song "All Things Ordinary" (which in a truly just world would be a commercial radio smash), whose ultra-catchy chorus goes, "Will you stay near me now, don't leave this town, until we've figured out, between the two of us we're strong enough -- I feel that in your touch." Or how about this line from the rocking "Emma Discovery": "And how can I possibly describe the way we looked back then? Because falling in love, whether or not it lasts, there's truth in that."
Yes, it's lyrics like these (and the band's Midwestern roots) that undeniably point to The Anniversary's roots in emo, but I'd like to think they're one of a few bands really testing the bounds of the genre. No member of the band is over 23 years in age, quite surprising considering the amount of talent they've managed to pack into this debut. I look forward to more great things from them. In the meantime, relive the longing and romance of youth with this album, and be glad that the '80s could still have a hand in creating music this good.
