Anchor Arms

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Review of "Cold Blooded" by Chris at Diatribe Inc. | Otcober 17th 2008 |

Cold Blooded, from start to finish, is a rollercoaster ride, the kind that you know may make you puke in the end, but you don’t dare get off the fucking thing for fear of what you may miss. This has been one of my favorite albums for the short time I’ve had it and I’m relatively sure that it will remain that way for awhile. And for good reason…

Anchor Arms hail from Gainesville, Florida and share many traits with their musical peers there; as much as I hate the fact of how often I have to invoke the ‘Gainesville sound’, once you hear these guys, there’s really no use in beating around the bush about it. The overall feeling of the album is very much akin to something you’d catch on a Hot Water Music or Gunmoll album, albeit this is a little more upbeat; a little more bouncy.

This album is rife with edgy melodies, catchy as hell hooks and saturated with more whisky soaked vocals than you can shake a stick at. If you could personify the concept of melody and then rough it up in the alley behind your local bar, Cold Blooded would be the result. I couldn’t point out a subpar track on this sucker, every song is just as rhythmically sound and solid as the next, but I can tell you that “Girl and a Glacier” and “Cocaine Cowboys” are the true standouts. This is a flawless album, especially for being their debut full length, and I’m hoping to keep these guys on my musical radar. - Chris (Diatribe Inc)

Punknews.org review of Cold Blooded:

Ah, the good ol' 'Gainesville sound.' You know what I'm talking about: gruff, sloshy vocals, rough-around-the-edges melodies and a general looseness that adds a certain relatable quality to the music. It's been done time and time again, yet we keep coming back for more. You may not know it yet, but you've already heard the debut full-length from Anchor Arms (not to be confused with Anchors for Arms), Cold Blooded. Regardless, there's a lot to like here.

The title track kicks off things in bouncing fashion before descending into a driving verse, replete with fun gang vocals and "hey!"s that undoubtedly translate well in a live setting. "Poison Arrows" has an almost melodic hardcore feel to it, with a lot of frets being utilized in the guitar parts and James Austin's throat-shredding "whoa"s setting up the song's dramatic end. The bounciness and driving verses return in the Smoke or Fire-esque "Girl and a Glacier," and the results are pretty enjoyable. Ditto for "Modern Medicine," a track that finds Austin truly channeling his inner Joe McMahon with a vocal performance that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Above the City.

"Black Water" is an interesting track with several distinct parts -- the first half or so of the song is a minimal, relatively quiet section featuring light percussion and whiskey-soaked vocals before the band kicks in at full volume with tons of "hey!"s and frantic drumming; then, the band seamlessly wraps up the song by throwing in a simple, effective hook while Austin screams, "From the bottom of my heart, my god I miss you!"

Cold Blooded wraps up solidly, with the call-and-repsonse vocals of "Cocaine Cowboys" doing a nice job of setting up an extremely catchy chorus, and the rhythm section bounces on "Totally Dead Wolves" while Austin raspily howls like there's no tomorrow. The band utilizes the loud/quiet dynamic to near-perfection on "Good Dead Me," and throw in another effective hook to end the song on for good measure. "Wires" closes the record admirably as a mid-tempo affair with the highlight being the absolutely huge gang vocals. It probably would've sounded better as track 5 or 6, but it's hardly a huge gripe.

At 9 songs clocking in at a tidy 22 minutes, Cold Blooded doesn't feel like much of a full-length, but its brevity certainly enhances its replay value and there isn't really any filler here. Anchor Arms are definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Milligrams 7" Review by Razorcake
Upon first listen, it’s absolutely no surprise that these lads call Gainesville home: gravelly voice, busy basslines, gang choruses, certainly no strangers to Fuel for the Hate Game. There’s something that separates Anchor Arms from the throngs of HWM copycats, though. These songs come off as totally natural, entirely sincere, as if maybe these cats were just so deeply immersed in hometown lore that they just live and breathe this sound. Passionate, memorable and genuine—I can’t ask for much more than that.
–Dave Williams (Razorcake)

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