CRITICAL EAR
Album: New Surrender
Artist: Anberlin
Label: Tooth and Nail
Sounds like: Muse
There's something decidedly 80s glam metal about Anberlin. Certainly not in their dress sense or in their anything-but-tinny production; but behind the emo trappings and ferocity there is a poppish sensibility not that far from the likes of Bon Jovi. This is not a bad thing, mind you, as they get the best of both worlds. Take song 2 on New Surrender for example. Starting with simple piano and guitar (and Stephen Christian's usual wordy lyrics), it builds to a wall-of-sound chorus that's heavy on guitars and frenetic drumming but also heavy on sing-a-long-ability. 
Haight Street also mines the same vein, with its Sweet Child o' Mine riffing, Eddie Van Halen solo, simple punchy lyrics (here is evidence perhaps of Christian's growing pop awareness), and clever nod to those old songs that celebrate without-a-care youth. Album opener The Resistance is more like the Anberlin of old — clinically steeled riffs that alternately growl and squeal, and drums of military precision — while Disappear is a Muse-like volcano. And Christian's themes of broken hearts and childhood memories are here again. But there's a creep towards commercialization in the slower, gentler (for Anberlin) numbers like Retrace, where Christian's vocal arcs dramatically into falsetto. Breathe, regrettably, heads towards leaden praise-and-worship territory — another legacy of the change to a bigger record label perhaps. But you can still rely on Anberlin for well-thought out music. On Burn Out Brighter, where other bands would make do with trowelling on the power chords, Anberlin layer on a filigree of guitar notes. While they are inching slowly away from their individuality, it's their combination of enthusiastic musicianship and pop smarts that continues to make them so interesting.
4/5
Nick Mattiske
More reviews on the YAYA website.
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