I’ve read a lot of press surrounding Anadivine and their brand of inventive pop-punk, both before and after the release of this album. The Militia Group very rarely put out a duffer – just look at their back catalogue and you’ll see some excellent young and upcoming bands on their roster. At first glance, Anadivine are another one of those exciting, youthful groups that seem to be doing something relatively new and original, wringing a tired genre through the wash and twisting and weaving vocals and guitar parts together. The only two Anadivine tracks I’d heard in advance of receiving this record were pretty good – one even featured Claudio from Coheed and Cambria on vocals – so expectations were high.
However, the more you listen to this record, the more you feel it’s a little hollow. Style over substance is ok in short bursts, but the hype generated about how good this release is has not captured my imagination. The outer shell suggests Anadivine are a pop-punk band with intelligence – but strip away the nasally, whiney vocals and the odd-timed drum patterns and you’re left with a band that don’t have the songs, on the whole, to make a massive impact. Anadivine remind me of Gatsby’s American Dream a little; there’s great variety in the instrumentation, but whereas Gatsby’s have a powerful vocalist with a unique and powerful style, Anadivine just don’t. At times they try and take on Coheed (and fail because of the lack of a personality in the vocals), rather than tackle their own style.
Having said all that, there are some highlights. Opener ‘Adding Insult To Industry’ is powerful and melodic, while ‘Alcohol and Oxygen’ is arguably the best song on the album. But there seems, to me, to be a sudden lull in quality terms during the middle third of this record. There’s a lack of fire, spark and genuine imagination, and while all the clever musicianship in the world can highlight your technical talents, it’s the songs which ultimately decide whether you live or die in the long term. Anadivine has plenty of good ideas, and some of these are well executed, but as a full length album this isn’t one that will make any kind of long-term imprint. There are simply better bands doing this style of music already.
www.anadivine.com
The Militia Group
Paul