It's always great to find all of these new breeds of punk bands coming about lately. There have been so many that I've found out about the last couple of years. And the funny thing is, nearly all of them have stuck with me. I still listen to all of these bands on a pretty frequent basis. Another band to add to this list is the Oregon quartet Anchor Down.
Their EP, Steel to Dust is a nice slab of melodic punk rock full of huge choruses, great lyrics, and driving melodies that are perfect for those long nights out with friends. The really interesting thing about Anchor Down is how they seem to take the strongest points of a lot of great punk bands and blend into their own sound. Their guitar tone bares a resemblance to that of older Alkaline Trio and Lawrence Arms records. Vocally, Alex Hudjohn and Lucas Andrews have a delivery that's similar to Hot Water Music and their lyrics remind me of The Bouncing Souls. Take the ending of "World War 1," which is the band chanting, "These words are our bullets / These chords are our swords / We're marching in time / We're waging a war." It's a simple line that's easy to relate to but how effectively it's delivered is what makes the song.
Just about all six of these songs have something that's memorable about them. The opener, "Bromancing the Stones" uses a great opening melody to open up the EP. The call and answer chorus with Andrews and Hudjon trading the lines of "I'll fight in / I'll fight out / I'll hide in / I'll hide out" helps kick things off with a spark. The band sounds like they're channeling Hot Water Music on "El Radio" with the dual vocals and Dillinger Four with the crunchy guitar chords and melodies. "Crass A Nova" is an honest pop-punk number with the opening lines of "I've got nothing left but my regrets / And a handful of memories I haven't lost yet" and it uses the aforementioned call and answer style chorus very well. "Never was a Lesson Learned (Remember Me)" is a much faster tune which really reminds me of older American Steel. The drum and bass intro of "Red Ink" starts the song off perfectly and things are just as good throughout the entire track. The closer "World War 1" has the great outro that was talked about earlier and it's ends the EP on a strong note. You'll want to listen to the whole thing over again after it's done.
Anchor Down play this style of punk rock exactly the way it's meant to be played, and Steel to Dust is at the ideal length for an EP. Not too long, but not terribly brief and it has a lot of lasting value, so it will stick around for awhile. Judging from this EP, I can tell that Anchor Down will definitely be one of those bands that I find myself listening to for years to come. Here's hoping that their future albums are as solid as Steel to Dust.
