Three Imaginary Girls - Born Anchors

Bumbershoot begins tonight (unoffically) with Ear Candy's kick-off party

ChrisB — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:41:07 +0000

Tonight, Bumbershoot unoffically begins with my friends from Ear Candy's kick-off party at the High Dive. It'll be quite the party, to say the least.

The main reason I like this bill is because it combines two great rock bands (The Redwood Plan and Born Anchors) with two great hip hop acts (Victor Shade and Grynch). The headliner of the night is Victor Shade, a brand new collaboration between Common Market's RA Scion and producer MTK. This will be their first show ever, so you'll probably not want to miss that.

This is the type of show that should happen every night because it takes risks with its booking and forces the crowd to listen to something that they may not be previously exposed to. It'll open with Born Anchors, a straight-forward rock band and continue with the buzz band The Redwood Plan, who are an excellent dance-rock band that has a heavy reliance on synths and hooks. With Grynch and Victor Shade, they'll surely close the night out like the party it is.

Ear Candy's (F)unoffical Bumbershoot kick-off party is tonight (Friday, September 4) at the High Dive with Victor Shade, Grynch, Born Anchors and The Redwood Plan. $10, 21+, 9pm.

KEXP's annual BBQ on Saturday

Chelsea Werner — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:33:12 +0000

Ideally summertime is all about getting sweaty and silly at free outdoor music shows. And guess who sticks to their ideals? Our provider of independent, new music, KEXP. Their summer concert series at the Mural Amphitheater in Seattle Center is running over the next few weeks to bring you a plethora of pitch-perfect bands for free. This Saturday, the 8th happens to be their annual BBQ from 2-9 pm and you know it’s going to rock your socks off.

Sprezzatura

Andrew Boe — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:54:13 +0000

7.8

born anchors.jpg

Seattle three piece, Born Anchors, are set to release their first album in April. Titled Sprezzatura, meaning studied nonchalance, the word gives insight into the sound that the band creates on their debut full-length. Comprised of the standard guitar, bass and drums, Born Anchors somehow manage to boil up a sound that is booming and voluminous. Their live set is said to be rather impressive as well. Seattle Weekly's Jonathan Cunningham recently called their performance at El Corazon a "singular version of pop-punk mayhem."

Most of the songs on Sprezzatura are around two to three minutes in length, pushing the group to power pop status, but they have more of a post-punk sound highlighted by some blazing guitar work that could give contemporary bands such as The Editors and Interpol a run for their money. In fact, Born Anchors are creating quite a buzz around Seattle. "In Disguise," from the upcoming disc, was featured as song of the day on KEXP on March 13th, and it is no surprise why. The track resonates with a succinct melody that is both gritty and catchy. Anyone familiar with The Comsat Angels will be able to draw comparisons in musical sound and vocal performance.

"Blinding Light" is another standout from Sprezzatura. The garage guitar sound falls somewhere in between Killing Joke and The Stooges and the rhythm section is given the opportunity to really shine on this track. This material will sound great live; If the band is half as tight live as it is on record, the crowd will be treated to something special.

Seattle three piece, Born Anchors, are set to release their first album in April. Titled Sprezzatura, meaning studied nonchalance, the word gives insight into the sound that the band creates on their debut full-length. Comprised of the standard guitar, bass and drums, Born Anchors somehow manage to boil up a sound that is booming and voluminous. Their live set is said to be rather impressive as well. Seattle Weekly's Jonathan Cunningham recently called their performance at El Corazon a "singular version of pop-punk mayhem."

Recommended show tonight: Born Anchors at El Corazon

imaginary liz — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:39:22 +0000

The packed to the gills five-band bill of Dear & The Headlights, Kinch, To The Waves, Born Anchors, and Martingale show tonight at El Corazon is the adrenaline shot to the heart that I need to wake up this freshly minted Monday and kick March in to high gear.

The Shackeltons rock pants off at Neumo's

Deborah Barnard — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:55:53 +0000

10 Apr 2008

shackeltons08apr.jpg

The Shackeltons rocked the crowd Thursday night, and the rest of the lineup at Neumo's featured local Seattle bands you should know more about too.

Openers Born Anchors played with enthusiastic hearts. The lead singer liked to wail more than a bit, and the drummer played with a maniacally-happy smile, as my plus one for the night pointed it out with a smile on his own face. The vocals tended to blur together and sound alike, but the band exceled at instrumentation with tight blends and a fast pace.

The guitarist used an e-bow (a nice little machine that lets you concentrate on fingering while it strums for you). Also, this band won for t-shirt design: a bird perched on an octopus tentacle that, from far away, looks like a peacock sitting on his own feathers. But no. So much more awesome than that. Plus, they're a super-local band: they hail from three blocks away from Neumo's.

New Faces are a trio of youngsters from Port Townsend who won the 2008 EMP Sound Off competition. They play catchy-as-hell, simple Britpop beats (think a local flavor of Franz Ferdinand), with Brit-kid haircuts to match. It's the kind of music that can get pleasantly stuck in your head, the kind that drives you to make converts of your friends so you have people you can gush with. While I was bopping along to their short set, I wish I could've heard their lyrics--but Neumo's sound quality is what it is and now I've got an excuse to snag their new EP.

It was a lovely set.

The first thing I noticed about the Hands was their interpretive guitar sex (aka the friendly antler-locking between the bass and guitar). The second thing I noticed was the best tambourine playah evah. The third thing was their solid commitment to rock your socks. Every time they screamed "I don't wanna die," my call and response instinct kicked in and I'd yell "neither do I!" The band's intense interactivity made their set a joy to watch. As much as Born Anchors impressed me with their playing, THIS was the band to study for instrumentation. I recommend them to the serious Rock Band players who enjoy playing intricate fingerings more than head-nods toward familiar songs.

When the Shackeltons took the stage, lead singer Mark Redding launched into a pre-play speech exactly as deadpan and random as King Missile's "Detachable Penis." He then started waving white blossoms and tree branches in the air, explaining that they were taken from a landscaping truck that had cut down a tree earlier that day. The branches were waved like incense then flung everywhere. This was a prelude to the only thing you need to know about Redding: he is super insane, maybe in a good way, maybe not. Dilated eyes and speeches about "Nyquil" that appears to be whiskey but "don't tell [his] mom" were followed by even greater show-stealing antics: he fell backwards, straight and hard, to sing while laid out flat on his back on-stage, "I want to fall in into love." Songs were mainly spoken or screamed.

Later, when he dropped the mike and left it lying on the stage, guitarist Erik Fisak gently/reproachfully put it back on the stand. You could tell the whole band is used to his antics. Mark Redding flies too high; if there's one thing I was sad about during this set, it was that there's a good chance The Shackeltons' singer will flail into rehab before they finally take off. Despite that, Redding held it together during the songs (for the most part) and pulled off what I've expected since I first heard the band's debut album: a punk-pop set that was one of the best I've heard in a long, long time.

The Shackelton's sole encore was the first song they ever wrote, a fast-paced little punk rock ditty called "Jenny" that wasn't half-bad. Afterwards, Redding encouraged everyone to "go to sleep."

The band pulled off what I've expected since I first heard their freshman album: a punk-pop set that was one of the best I've heard in a long, long time.