This lot are the first signings to Snuff‘s new record label, which goes by the name of Ten Pat Ten Records. Legend has it that they sent the legendary Snuff a copy of their demo for advice regarding recording and were promptly signed up with Greetings From Wasteland being the end result. It’s a sestet of tracks in which the Snuff influence is very visible – Adrian Paton’s chugging guitars leading the way to the road marked ‘skate punk with some random bits chucked in too.’
It’s admirable the way that Anonymous Tip have attempted to bring some variety and innovation to their music, since however much I love it, punk rock can get a touch monotonous if it’s not liberally doused with ideas. Trouble is, at times they try too hard and as a result appear to be cutting and pasting different styles. The screaming which concludes the opening track ‘Big Brown Bear’ as well as ‘Lemon Juice On My Nipples’ does not sit well with the rest of the song and really stinks of bandwagon jumping, while the offbeat chorus of ‘Pro Spec Confession’ sounds equally clumsy.
But in terms of negative points that’s really it for Greetings From Wasteland. ‘Space Fluid’ morphs seamlessly and confidently from a languid reggae jam into a blistering punk number that changes identity in the blink of an eye with the extreme change of pace. ‘Blame Santa’ is more conventional, and could be an English Lagwagon with the differing emphasis on punchy punk and catchy riffs. It’s similar to ‘Lemon Juice…’ with the lyrical content bordering on the insane – “There is only darkness here/Marge Simpson Marge Simpson†being an example of the weirdness expressed here.
As far as debut EPs go it’s certainly promising. Anonymous Tip adequately display a talent for writing catchy, melodic tunes and have the melodic nous to back it up. As I said before it’s admirable that they’re trying to throw in a few curveballs here and there but they should be careful not to degenerate into a band reliant on kerazy gimmicks. When they concentrate on doing what they do best – blasting out kinetic punk rock – they rock hard, but when they get distracted it’s hard to stay attentive.
Ben