Anberlin - Blueprints For The Black Market

Coming at you with more hooks than a pirate ship, it's Orlando, Flordia's own Anberlin! The quintet ranges from ages 16-26 and while their youthful exuberance shines through on their debut, Blueprints for the Black Market, there is also a sense of maturity that is uncommon in such young bands these days. I’ve been searching for a good description of this band and I have to say I’m failing. The vocals are strongly influenced by Robert Smith (The Cure), which is pretty blatant, and the music is upbeat rock (complete with guitar solos!) that's not too heavy and not too soft. Their biography gives comparisons to Superdrag, The Juliana Theory, and the Foo Fighters. But, I stand on the claim that Anberlin has a sound all their own. Blueprints for the Black Market kicks off with “Readyfuels” (yes, one word), which is one of the album’s heavier songs. “Foreign Language” follows and is probably the catchiest song overall on the album. Watch out; “Boys speak in rhythm, and girls in code” can be nearly impossible to get out of your head. “Change the World” is a decent song, which drags slightly -- strong, but not outstanding. I won’t go into detail on each song, because frankly, I think that would be a bit boring for you readers, but I wanted to give you a small taste of what to expect here. Other than the first two songs, the next highlight would be “Autobahn”, which got me with its new wave-ish keyboard intro. Since I previously referred to Robert Smith, I feel obligated to mention Anberlin’s included their own rendition of The Cure’s classic, “Love Song”. My prediction that every one of these songs would have a chorus that is, well, I’ll say “lovely”, for lack of better words, was fulfilled. If catchy rock is your thing, give this a listen. If not, give it a listen anyway and if you don’t like it, you should be beaten with a stick (just kidding). As cheesy as it sounds, I think Blueprints For Success would have been a more appropriate album title. [www.toothandnail.com]