I bet every single album review mentions the words Conor Oberst or Bright Eyes. It’s unfair I know, but this is a genre literally exploding from everywhere, and in the main it’s down to Mr Oberst. It means that talents like An Angle are always going to be unfairly lumped in with someone lauded by the media as the fore-father of the latest trend. Admittedly Kris Anaya does bear a passing resemblence to the annointed one, and that probably will both help and hinder him – Bright Eyes fans will probably look down with scorn, while those who just like this kind of music may check this out because of who it sounds like.
Now the problem for me is that I don’t like Bright Eyes – I think it’s hideously over-rated, but I’m seemingly in the minority. As a result, An Angle wash over me slightly. Sure, the song structures are well constructed and there are clear moments of heart-on-sleeve action (‘A Way With Words’ for example), but at others (see ‘Born In A Bottle’) it’s just blues mixed with country for the year 2005. If someone hadn’t stuck a tag as the next big thing on this kind of music, or it wasn’t released on a well-known label, I doubt the spotlight would be shining quite so brightly, no pun intended.
This album, Drive Thru’s latest release, is a departure from what you would come to expect from the label. However, as the reaction from the last EP generated, Kris is always going to be compared to Conor Oberst and I don’t think this album will shake that tag. It’s especially difficult for songwriters to shake off unwanted tags and, with this in mind, you can (hopefully) excuse my constant references. As someone not up-to-date with all the goings on with this style of music, you’ll have to accept my blunt interpretations that this isn’t all that great – each to their own and all that. I’m sure An Angle will ride the Oberst wave, however, and this record will do pretty well, but I have a feeling that success may well be down to fashion trends and fads than the ability to write amazing and interesting songs which captivate audiences. But what do I know? Hundreds of thousands worship at the church of Oberst, after all…
www.ananglemusic.com
Drive Thru records
Paul