Here Anonymous
Eulogies
Score:44
Reviewer: Ed Butler
Label: Dangerbird Records (USA & UK), Albert Productions (Australia)
Reviewed: Oct 23rd '09, Released:2009
Radiohead once famously announced that anyone can play guitar. But just because anyone can, doesn’t mean they should. These days, it’s not about playing guitar with limited aptitude so much as anyone with a functioning right index finger using their home PC to put together a half cobbled backing band.
Not to imply that Eulogies, the band to emerge from frontman Peter Walker’s solo efforts, are inept. They are, however, fairly pedestrian at best. In 2009, when the aforementioned digital revolution has made it so simple for anyone with a keyboard and rudimentary freeware to put together an album, rising above the muck is harder than ever. So, while Here Anonymous is perfectly capable, rise above much of the muck it does not.
To be fair, it isn’t Eulogies’ fault that there are so many similar acts around today. However, it’s a truism of the modern music industry that to get ahead, you need something that stands out, and in Walker’s nuanced voice, they have that. Resting comfortably in the nebulous region between Jeff Buckley’s falsetto croon and Kurt Cobain’s anguished howl, Walker is a terrific focal point for his band’s sparse accompaniment. But it is this resolutely banal accompaniment that continually drags Here Anonymous back to the mundane.
Closer ‘Is There Anyone Here?’ is emblematic of the album’s issues. It begins with an interesting riff, heavy on distortion, which all-too-soon gives way to yet another faux-Spoon guitar plunk and forgettable lyrics, nicely sung. The band’s name is sadly perhaps the most interesting thing about the band thus far. However, in Walker, they do have the kind of frontman they can build a great sound around. So, while this, their sophomore release, is a disappointment, there remains a deal of hope yet.
