Spring Break
Anberlin Grows Up On New Album 'Cities'
CD Review
Stephen Ortiz
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Focus
The intro track on Anberlin's newest album, "Cities" is quite the nail-biter.
A crescendo of guitar riffs, bass lines, and studio FX deliver an industrial sound, and give off a gritty city feel. The noise level continues to rises, ambulances rumble along in the background and tension mounts, then the album kicks you right down.
"Cities" is the third studio album for the Florida quintet, which formed in 2002. Their last album, "Never Take Friendship Personal," was released just over two years ago to huge success, and had made the band very popular amongst the emo and indie scenes.
As demonstrated on previous works, Anberlin was the band that delivered the emo aesthetic to listeners who weren't so caught up in feeling their feelings. The band was flattered, but that's not who they were. Anberlin, composed of singer Stephen Christian, bassist Deon Rexroat, Joseph Milligan and Nathan Strayer on guitars and drummer Nathan Young, are out to prove they can escape the "emo" label dealt to them on their first two albums, and deliver a great alternative rock LP.
It's safe to say that they have succeeded at that goal. Their sound echoes with confidence, and its almost as if they're declaring themselves ready to be something bigger than just an opening act for your favorite bands at small local venues. While they maintain the catchy sound and sing-a-long rock of past efforts, it's a definite lyrical departure from their previous efforts on "Never Take Friendship Personal," and musically the next step in the band's artistic evolution.
"Cities" comes in two editions: the regular 12-track album and a special edition with three bonus songs and a DVD. The bonus DVD includes a behind-the-scenes look of the band making the album, interviews with the band and never-before-seen footage.
The three bonus tracks, "Uncanny," "There Is a Light that Never Goes Out," a Smiths cover, and "The Promise," a When In Rome cover, are all solid and seem to fit in quite well with the entire package, and along with the DVD, it's worth the few extra dollars.
A crescendo of guitar riffs, bass lines, and studio FX deliver an industrial sound, and give off a gritty city feel. The noise level continues to rises, ambulances rumble along in the background and tension mounts, then the album kicks you right down.
"Cities" is the third studio album for the Florida quintet, which formed in 2002. Their last album, "Never Take Friendship Personal," was released just over two years ago to huge success, and had made the band very popular amongst the emo and indie scenes.
As demonstrated on previous works, Anberlin was the band that delivered the emo aesthetic to listeners who weren't so caught up in feeling their feelings. The band was flattered, but that's not who they were. Anberlin, composed of singer Stephen Christian, bassist Deon Rexroat, Joseph Milligan and Nathan Strayer on guitars and drummer Nathan Young, are out to prove they can escape the "emo" label dealt to them on their first two albums, and deliver a great alternative rock LP.
It's safe to say that they have succeeded at that goal. Their sound echoes with confidence, and its almost as if they're declaring themselves ready to be something bigger than just an opening act for your favorite bands at small local venues. While they maintain the catchy sound and sing-a-long rock of past efforts, it's a definite lyrical departure from their previous efforts on "Never Take Friendship Personal," and musically the next step in the band's artistic evolution.
"Cities" comes in two editions: the regular 12-track album and a special edition with three bonus songs and a DVD. The bonus DVD includes a behind-the-scenes look of the band making the album, interviews with the band and never-before-seen footage.
The three bonus tracks, "Uncanny," "There Is a Light that Never Goes Out," a Smiths cover, and "The Promise," a When In Rome cover, are all solid and seem to fit in quite well with the entire package, and along with the DVD, it's worth the few extra dollars.
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