One of the most vibrant areas of music here at the moment is the hard rock scene. Declared virtually dead a few years back but now there are, literally, dozens of bands enlivening the scene and making some bloody good music. Now, from Scotland, are Anchor Lane and if you are into bands such as Piston, Those Damn Crows, Gorilla Riot then this will be right up your street.
The first time I put the album on I was impressed by just how musical and solid they sounded. ‘Accidentally’ turning the volume up a couple of notches suddenly revealed a band delivered a massive punch and drive to go along with their melodies and there are a couple of really tasty riffs in there as well.
The band hooked up with producer Tony Jepson for the album and singer Conor Gaffney said, “We learned so much from Toby. His ability to take a song and flip it on its head was so inspiring to us.” Toby said, “Before I commit to working with a band, I need to get a sense of whether they have a genuine vision and something to say. When I heard the demos I knew there was some intuitive and intelligent writing going on.”
Lawrence O’Brian on guitar plays with huge aggression as well as tempering his playing with some real subtlety and the rhythm section of Matthew Quigley (bass) and drummer Scott Hanlon give the band a great bottom end. Conor’s vocals are full of passion and bravado but he never sounds as though he is struggling – always within the material.
They claim as influences Eagles of Death Metal, Foo Fighters and Nirvana and I could here those influences throughout the album but there is something else, something very particular, that makes Anchor Lane very individual.
Bloody fine debut, very listenable and occasionally really surprising.
