ANAGRAM
After Dark
Dead Astronaut
· Translate! The beautiful mess of Toronto’s Anagram.
Long touted as Toronto’s best live band, Anagram’s studio-recorded output thus far has shown up disappointingly half-baked. After Dark, on the other hand, manages to get it very nearly right.
It’s easy to see where Anagram is coming from – late 1970s New York "no wave" is alive and well in Toronto, don’t you know – and After Dark tosses all the expected pieces into place with near-religious fervour. Horns squawk, guitars crumble and the percussion works overtime. There’s a beat worth dancing to, but you’ll quite possibly end up hurting yourself without sufficient room.
Lead vocalist Matt Mason treads the middle ground between Lee Ranaldo-style shouting and Stephin Merritt’s bored baritone. Picture Merritt replacing James White in The Contortions and you’ve got a fitting image that, if it’s not terribly close, is at least kind of funny to think about.
Check "Looks Like it’s Your Fault" as evidence of what Anagram is capable of. Things start kind of chilled and groove-driven, but gradually frantic emotion takes the lead and things very nearly fall apart, and therein lies the success of After Dark – it’s amazing how live it actually sounds. In other words, Anagram finally translate.
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