Anberlin - One schizophrenic puppy

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Anberlin - One schizophrenic puppy

May 10th 2006 03:35

Artist Review

Anberlin - yet another band I missed out on during their Australian tour earlier this year... They're not my favourite band, but they're definitely good enough to see live.

Anberlin are pop-punk in the literal sense of the word. They don't really mix the two genres together as well as some other bands, opting instead to write heavy metal-influenced songs with slight pop elements, and then juxtaposing this with pure pop songs with even slighter punk elements, ala The Starting Line. I know it sounds wierd but the majority of the time, it actually sounds good and the track order on both of their albums takes it into account, making for a pleasurable listening experience. The band, in using this technique, seems almost schizophrenic in their musical mindset but, as I said, it magically works.

The site's statement is almost true. Incessant choruses (isn't that what a chorus is?) sure, shredding guitar lines definitely but "sheer pop-perfection?" Not really. Let me illustrate - their debut album "Blueprints for the Black Market," begins with a heavy guitar riff that could easily be mistaken for something from the new Taking Back Sunday album. The song, from the verse to chorus, is ultimately punk and I have no problems with it - in fact I love it. But then the second track, "Foreign Language" begins. From the lyrics, to the "doo doos" to the guitar riff, Lord-help-me I've never heard a poppier song. It is pop to the point of making me sick.

Don't get me wrong - I have nothing wrong with pop as its meant to be - Head Automatica has more than proved that pop can flourish and that it can, in fact be good. But this track is more than overwhelming and hard to listen to. Thankfully, the album quickly redeems itself in the next track and there are no more signs of this poppiness on the rest of the album, save "We Dreamed in Heist," a later track that does not goes as far as "Foreign Language" but definitely has the ambition to. Nevertheless, it is seemingly in the blood of singer and assumedly song-writing Stephen Christian to write these songs every now and then, because they appear again in the next album, "Never Take Friendship Personal."

The second album is, by far, better than the first. Unlike Taking Back Sunday, who have departed further from the pop-punk scene with each release,

Anberlin have gotten closer and closer to the style of the Starting Line, while retaining a certain heaviness about them. The pop appearance on this album comes in the form of "Stationery Stationery" and then later in "Time and Confusion." While the former can become slightly unbearable, the latter follows in the strain of Kisschasy's first single "Doo Doos and Woah Ohs," with a poppy melody and "doo doo" catchphrase that works far better than that in "Foreign Language."

I know I've spent the majority of this review essentially turning you off these albums but, in truth, its extremely hard to decide one way or the other whether Anberlin are a good band. Many of their songs tend to be forgettable, and those which are excellent, are unavoidably contrasted by their poppy counterparts. They seem to stereotype pop, as many have done in the past, into a box of ultimate corniness, and then proceed to create a manifestation of that stereotype which becomes unlistenable. While this isn't true on all counts, it happens far too much in order to make the albums good on a whole. The reason they will never make it to the stardom of Fall Out Boy, or even the smaller Starting Line, is the mere fact that they can't decide on a genre. They want the heaviness of P.O.D. and Taking Back Sunday, but are harnessed by the ultimate failings of overproduced pop.

Anberlin - One schizophrenic puppy

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