Anberlin

New Surrender (Universal Republic)

By Jack McGregor

Album cover

First listening to New Surrender’s opening track “The Resistance’ one thought echoes in the cranium: another band jumping onto the “emotional rock’ band-wagon (what else does one expect from the producer of Fall Out Boy, Yellowcard and New Found Glory?).  However, this Miami-based quintet has (mostly) proved my Numbskulls wrong.

Yes, “The Resistance’ is more reminiscent of a Fall Out Boy B-side, as is “Burn Out Brighter’ with its textbook-style grainy guitars, loud and heavy drums, and post-apocalyptic lyrics sung in that annoying way, but many of the other listings more than make up for these rather standard tunes. “Feel Good Drag’ sounds disturbingly like an early Lostprophets song, but much better. The music here is colourful, tight, well coordinated and mixed perfectly. There is a fairly diverse array of musical styles within the thirteen tracks, including the acoustic swing of bonus track “A Perfect Tourniquet’. The surprisingly mellow “Miserable Visu’, a poetic, beautiful, and highly satirical song about the arrival of war, sung by Stephen Christian in a way that leaves the listener in a certain kind of awe. “Breathe’ is a track to look out for, both anthemic and melodious, with Deon Rexroat and Nathan Young keeping a solid rhythm behind carefully orchestrated harmonies.

It would be easy to categorise New Surrender as something like “emo’ or “pop-rock’ but, as we all know, these terms all too often take something away from the music underneath. Anberlin’s second album boasts an educated balance of professionalism and musical punch, and proves that their original success was no fluke. (6)