Apparently the video for Anberlin’s first single off of their newest album New Surrender was released a month ago and I never knew about it. This video is sort of ‘mainstream’ and doesn’t make nearly as strong an impact as their video for The Unwinding Cable Car. But since Anberlin is now on a major record label it only makes sense that the stylizing of their videos matches their budget. If that isn’t enough for you, it’s a good song. Period.
Making a Top 10 list is practically a requirement when you have a music review blog, but it can also be a nuisance since people usually judge you based on your list. Regardless, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, chances are very high that you know exactly what albums I’m going to include. If not, here’s a hint: go to the sidebar and check out all the 2008 releases that I gave 4.5 stars or 5 stars.
So here’s the best of what I managed to review:
The New Frontiers – Mending
indie, acoustic (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
I simply can’t say enough about this album. It’s not very inventive lyrically or musically, but it’s been compelling enough that I returned to this album time and time again. It doesn’t matter what mood I’m in or what song I just listened to – the minute something from Mending came up on my shuffle, I was swept away. The fact that The New Frontiers have broken up so soon after its release makes Mending almost iconic.
Copeland – You Are My Sunshine
indie/alt pop (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
While I wasn’t so enthusiastic about this album when I first heard it, it’s certainly grown on me. Every time I hear something from it, I’m struck by a certain lyric or a nuance that I’d never heard before. While Copeland is certainly branching out into new directions, they do so very convincingly.
City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love
folk (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
I’m convinced that Dallas Green is physically incapable of writing a truly upbeat song, but this album was a strange mixture of the ironic and the depressing. I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it completely.
Anberlin – New Surrender
alternative rock (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
This album takes the prize of Surprise of the Year. I’m a self-proclaimed Anberlin fan, but even I didn’t expect the second half of this album. Interestingly enough, it works. I’d love to see where these guys go from this excellent start.
Thrice – The Alchemy Index Vol. 3 & 4
alt rock, acoustic, folk (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
This album is a revelation when one considers its source: a post-hardcore band expanding its horizons. Lacking the insipid love songs that we’ve grown accustomed to on the radio, this album would have been more talked about than Radiohead’s In Rainbows had all four volumes been released at once. As it is, these last two volumes are simply brilliant.
Jack’s Mannequin – The Glass Passenger
piano rock (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
“The Resolution” is, and will always remain, the best anthem to come out of this decade. I also enjoyed the fact that McMahon returned to his roots in pop/punk, because too much acoustic just wasn’t good for him.
The Dodos – Visiter
alternative, folk (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
As an eclectic mixture of the unexpected and the familiar, Visiter is the layman’s version of Portishead’s Third. Honestly, that fact alone makes me love this album even more. Portishead, take note.
Yoav – Charmed & Strange
alternative/indie pop (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
Simplicity in lyrics and form haven’t failed the music scene yet, and here’s another prime example. Yoav’s voice is a bit too stretched at times, but the album as a whole is a noteworthy debut.
Tiger Lou – The Loyal
indie-rock, alt pop (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
Although it was originally released in 2005, The Loyal was released in the U.S. via Eyeball Records this year, and gave me a newfound respect for that label. The songs here are repetitive but not at all tiring. I have to get my hands on some of their newer stuff.
Augustana – Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt
roots rock/piano rock (read review)
Purchase: Amazon, website
This country-tinged sophomore album by Augustana might not have garnered as much attention as it deserved but it’s getting its due here. Here’s a return to the basics in a laid-back California/Texas style. Yeah, I don’t get it either, but that’s what it is, isn’t it?
Here are some other releases (in alphabetical order) that you should check out:
Boris Smile’s Beartooth EP
Dido’s Safe Trip Home
Driver F’s Chase The White Whale
The Duke Spirit’s Neptune
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Genre: alternative rock |
Well, all you diehard Anberlin fans, at the end of the month Anberlin will be releasing their new album on their new label, Universal Republic. In many ways, this album is a reflection of that step-up in the recording industry. If you always thought Anberlin was catchy, New Surrender is catchier. The great thing is that, aside from the misstep that is “Haight St.” Anberlin hasn’t lost who they are either.
In an AP interview that lead vocalist Stephen Christian gave in 2007 for the album Cities, he stated that their music had matured, because “the first album, Blueprints for the Black Market (2003), was childish in the fact that it was Man vs. World. The last album, Never Take Friendship Personal (2005), was Man vs. Man. Cities, however, is Man vs. Self.” New Surrender is both a reflection of that progression as well as the next step forward. You can essentially divide the first six songs up into chronological order:
Man vs. World: “The Resistance”
Man vs. Man: “Breaking,” “Blame Me! Blame Me!”
Man vs. Self: “Retrace,” “Feel Good Drag,” “Disappear”
The latter six songs are the step forward – as Christian sings in “Breathe,” This long of a struggle/ Finally opened up my eyes/ Revolution’s not easy/ With a civil war on the inside. With Man and Self both giving up the fight, Man feels as though he can find a purpose for his life (“Burn Out Brighter”), remember the happiness of his past without dwelling on the bad (“Younglife”), and generally enjoy life again (“Haight St.”). And just when you thought that Anberlin was taken over by aliens with all of this happiness going on, they come out with what is arguably their darkest song to date (“Soft Skeletons”) and a grand apocalyptic finale (“Misearbile Visu”).
This album is not Cities, and don’t make the mistake of hoping for Cities before you listen to it. Unlike some bands out there (I’m looking at you, Coldplay), Anberlin has always been able to grow musically while staying true to themselves. The first six songs show that Anberlin can even go backwards and still come up with music that sounds fresh.
It seems like a ballsy move to include some of the ‘happier’ songs on this album, but the directional shifts and the changes in sound impressed me so much that I could easily ignore “Haight St.” The addition of Christian McAlhaney has given the band a lot more depth than I thought he would. The remake of “Feel Good Drag” is an excellent example – I’ve always liked the song, but the old version seemed a bit too sing-songy. This new version has a desperation, and the chorus, Was this over before it ever began? practically demands an answer.
Furthermore, Stephen Christian’s singing style has changed considerably. I could hear a smoother blues tint in “Retrace” and he proves he can hit the high notes in “Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum).” As Christian’s voice was once the most distinctive part of this band, its changes have only added to their general sound. This is no longer an indie band; they’re a band confident in themselves and in their wider appeal.
Do yourself a favor and don’t give up on these guys just because they’re signed to a big label – they just might surprise you.
