The Anniversary

Designing a Nervous Breakdown (Vagrant)
by Tim Den

Okay, so I’ve heard worse attempts at New Wave. The Anniversary is a group of ex-punk rock, “now I’m cool because I listen to ‘geeky’ music” kids trying to catch up with the rest of the emo world, playing them “emo” chords backed with keyboards. The only thing that sets them apart from all the other “geekcore” bands is that The Anniversary is better. They actually sing pretty decent melodies, they’ve got nice dynamics in their song structures, and they have a female vocalist (supported by two not-so-hot male vocalists) who can really sprinkle loveliness on your morning (although claiming to “challenge the traditional rock song format,” as the band not-so-humbly states, is more than stretching it). Hell, if it wasn’t for all the other bands jumping on the New Wave bandwagon), I’d say I really like The Anniversary. Personally, I just can’t stomach the way emo kids desecrate one classic genre after another in pursuit of identity and pussy. First it’s indie rock, then Weezer/pop, now New Wave. The Pixies are rolling in their metaphoric graves.
(www.vagrant.com)