Labels: Boislève – Spurt
Review by: Alex Deller
Anomie. Another great, dead French band. Ferociously intense hardcore with emo – “emo” as in the way it was supposed to sound before the term was co-opted by dumb fucks dumb thinking it just meant drab indie rock – leanings. Musically maybe like Born Against crossed with Torches to Rome (or, for the French hardcore connoisseur, somewhere between Fingerprint and Undone) “” thick and chugging, but always managing to thread a semi-melody in along the way. The full-frontal assault is complemented by neat bass runs, pretty arpeggios and the occasional acoustic strum. Vocals are torn from the lungs and screamed, primarily female, with some male back-ups from time to time. It works really, really well and sounds so damn passionate.
As with lots of the bands of this genre, Anomie sang with gut-feeling and emotion, writing powerful, intelligent lyrics that dealt with political and societal issues. Sexism, racism, war, self-image, consumerism. Songs that actually fucking meant something.
The icing on the cake is a nicely put-together cardboard package and enormous lyric sheet/poster which includes translations for every lazy ass who can’t be bothered with a language that isn’t their own.
Awesome and inspiring, in a nutshell.