Anathallo is an 8 piece band from Michigan and has been seen on tour with the likes of Copeland, Underoath and the Lyndsay Diaries to name a few. Anathallo's second release comes to us from the fine folks at Selah Records.
Not too long ago I caught this young act opening for Copeland and Underoath in Chicago. As the band began to set up I noticed a few horn players in tow. Oh Great. Ska. Thankfully and surprisingly I was wrong. Very wrong. Anathallo play extremely creative and imaginative indie rock. This band really caught me off guard, and I was glad I witnessed their set. Another surprising factor of this band is how young the members appeared to be and how mature their music was in spite of it. And the horns, believe it or not, are used very tastefully and creatively. So when the band released their second disc at this year's Cornerstone festival I didn't hesitate to pick up a copy. Although I believe the band made a poor choice of opening track (a song featuring only acoustic guitar and vocals and seemingly way too quiet in level than the rest of the recording), what we have here is a solid release of creative and original music. The listener may be tempted to immediately label this as "emo", but a close inspection of the music recorded reveals many gems and pieces of brilliantly orchestrated music. And again those horns really do add some nice texture to these songs. Everything on this disc is presented quite nicely and executed very well. I can't really do this release justice with my description. You have to listen to Anathallo yourself. I believe you will hear something familiar yet new and exciting at the same time.
B
