The Anecdotes

There seems to be nothing that new British bands cannot do. They're coming from every corner: prominently Birmingham, Liverpool, and obviously London. One city that's been slightly under-represented in the newbie stakes is Manchester. Home of The Smiths, Joy Division and The Stone Roses, it would seem that indie rock bands would have a whole lot to live up to. And so The Anecdotes step up to the plate, and they seem to be doing a very good job so far.

Their new EP Origami Waves, released on 22nd April 2013, aspires to escape reality with songs entitled Kaleidoscope and Fell Into A Dream. This seems to be the new vogue amongst up and coming artists; indeed, I'm not complaining, if there's one thing I need right now it's a bit of escapism.

The title track opens with a nod to The Smiths, sounding oddly like a remastered version of The Headmaster Ritual, but the song comes into its own when the vocals come in. The dark, brooding tones of lead singer Matt Hensley
give the song a tone of modern teenage daydreams. Despite their youth, they clearly have some proper skills, which the air-shredding guitar solo in the background will tell you. In fact, just tune your ear into any of the individual parts and you will find some talented musicians behind them. Bassist Nick Bradford, drummer Ellis Cullen and guitarist Mike Rowlinson all have an equally important part to play in the song, and they make sure none of them are forgotten.

The Anecdotes site Peace, The Cribs and The Strokes as their main influences, and their songs are very transparent in revealing exactly how those influences have seeped into their music. The opening of Kaleidoscope sounds like a rehashed version of Peace's Bloodshake, but the lyrics echo a much more distinctly adolescent emotion: that of wanting to escape and make something of yourself. This sentiment is much more reminiscent of the more recent Noah and The Whale material (i.e. Waiting For My Chance To Come), although put into an entirely different context of smashing drums and wailing guitars - if Charlie Fink had done hardcore indie rock, it would sound like this.

Fell Into A Dream is the one which really allows you to ease yourself in, like into a swimming pool on a hot day. The gradual build up of the song to the last instrumental section, where the guitar blends into itself and the drums go crazy, makes me long for being in the middle of a massive crowd at a festival, dancing like a mad person and nobody giving a monkey's. The slight change in the music after the first chorus moves the song on to new heights; they never do the same thing twice.

I think we've done it. I think there is finally a new band coming out of Manchester that aren't trying too hard to be Morrissey, and yet sound just as awesome. N.B. Do allow yourself some time for them to grow on you, it needs a bit of an adjustment period.

Rating: 7.5/10

Listen to the EP here: