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Anagrams – We Form A Shelter

Posted by Editor

So here’s the debut album from Brighton based band Anagrams. The blurb for the album describes them as ‘Indie’, which, I’ll be honest, didn’t fill me with excitement. However, it does appear that on closer inspection they are indeed indie, in the true and proper sense, as this album is only available to buy in the old fashioned sense in independent record stores, as well as by download through various sites.

Anagrams themselves reference Pavement, Radiohead, Verve and Mogwai when making comparisons to describe this album. I’m not how much I agree with any of those, but rather than throwing other comparisons out there, I’ll try to tell you a bit about the album instead. This is partly because I didn’t immediately think of any direct lazy comparisons to make (which is a good thing in my opinion).

Taken in isolation, some of the tracks on this album are really well constructed, with layers of texture and genuineness to them, but unfortunately, I felt that there are also songs that lack that feeling of having been so carefully crafted, and this meant that on listening to the album as a whole, my attention waxed and waned.

This is a shame, as there are some corkers – examples being ‘White Eagle’, which is a haunting instrumental, with a lovely twangy hook and a nice crescendo over the top, ‘Dig A Hole’, which is tight and some really interesting guitar parts, and ‘Red and Green’, which begins with tight staccato guitars bouncing off each other – everything about this song just works brilliantly. More of this please Anagrams!!

In contrast, I felt that some songs, such as the album opener ‘Autumn Leaves’ just lack a bit of oomph. In addition, ‘Saving Up’, has some lovely elements to it, but at over six minutes, it just outstays its welcome, particularly as it ends with a fade out. ‘1711’ also feels too long. There’s a lovely break and vocal part at about 3 mins 20, but then the song continues on its way for over two minutes. Having said that – the lyrical refrain, ‘you’ve got a pig head, you’ve got a snout’ did stick with me for some time.

I’d also be interested to hear these songs live, as I felt that the vocals are at times placed too high in the mix, and that the production generates a slightly clinical feel to the album in some instances. This is somewhat surprising, as the album was recorded by the band themselves in a lo fi school hall environment.

There’s much to like about this album – I really hope that Anagrams continue to run with the bits that work well.

Top Tracks – ‘Red And Green’, ‘Dig A Hole’.

Released February 07 from Bandcamp