Music Reviews

Anyone

Anyone

Roadrunner

The impressively fine-cropped facial hair and the enormous amount of breasts and Buddhist tourist souvenirs that grace this cover make for a confused first-meeting with nu-glam outfit Anyone. And confusion, it seems, don’t wear off too easily – this is a strange semi-hybrid of everything from glorious Marc Bolan to ridiculous Limp Bizkit. And with a hugely varying degree of success.

When it works, such as on opener “Giving Thrills” and the great, dumb rock of “Lazy Hazy,” it is at times reminiscent of Suede’s Bowie revisits, only filtered through Korn’s set-up. When it falls through – try “Fly” if you’re curious, for whatever reason – they sound like sub-standard Limp Bizkit, which is a very horrible prospect indeed. Far too all-encompassing for its own good, Anyone may have bitten over more than they can chew, and clocking in at over an hour, the album contains a few too many fillers and one idea too many that just doesn’t fit in.

Main man Riz Story, however – who sings, plays guitars and writes the stuff – is super-talented, and has a brilliantly engaging star persona about him that draws the listener in, even on the more tedious tracks. Once they establish a stronger idea of what they’re trying to do – and hopefully what they’re trying to do is not the sub-Limp Bizkit thing – they should be able to take it to the next level. There’s a great album somewhere in all this.

Roadrunner Records: http://www.roadrun.com


Recently on Ink 19...

Swans

Swans

Event Reviews

40 years on, Michael Gira and Swans continue to bring a ritualistic experience that needs to be heard in order to be believed. Featured photo by Reese Cann.

Eclipse 2024

Eclipse 2024

Features

The biggest astronomical event of the decade coincides with a long overdue trip to Austin, Texas.

Sun Ra

Sun Ra

Music Reviews

At the Showcase: Live in Chicago 1976/1977 (Jazz Detective). Review by Bob Pomeroy.

Dark Water

Dark Water

Screen Reviews

J-Horror classic Dark Water (2002) makes the skin crawl with an unease that lasts long after the film is over. Phil Bailey reviews the new Arrow Video release.