Drowning with our Anchors - Breathing Lessons - 7

Labels: Commodity Fetish
Review by: Andy Malcolm

It’s feels like it’s been ages since the last great American emo LP. Reds is:means if you’re keeping count I reckon, although Life at these Speeds and Sinaloa definitely made fine albums post that, an emo band generally never tops it’s début album. I think Drowning With Our Anchors are going to get that long wait resolved in the near future, as they have an album coming out on Adagio shortly. This 7″ is a superb construction, and will surely appeal to anyone as smitten with this kind of music as I am. It follows the examples set by bands like Yaphet Kotto and Life at these Speeds, getting their sobs on with one singer, and the hoarse crying with the other. This comes with a backdrop of raw guitar, with the fragile melody hanging on amidst the turmoil. The groove gets me shaking in my chair, oh man. They also prove adept at the pretty guitar work, with a lovely, melancholy instrumental build up on the flip side, before they get their emoting under way again. Things are still more than a bit rough round the edges at times on this seven, but go back and listen to that Yaphet Kotto first single and you’ll hear a lot of similarities. Overall, this is an excellent single and I await that LP in high anticipation.