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Formed in August 2015 Glasgow's ANXIETY have achieved quite a reputation locally thru their stage presence. A fully formed band which irradiates personality from the very first play and is not afraid to look at hardcore punk from outside the box. This their first release sees the band delivering nine tracks of discordant hardcore with layers and layers of distortion and vocal effects in barely 20 minutes. Pinpointing a band like ANXIETY is really hard. While they play hardcore based music their approaches are as broad as you can imagine with members coming from bands as different as HERBERT POWELL, PENNYCRESS, THE LOWEST FORM or APOSTILLE. So think of a way more aggressive BUTTHOLE SURFERS mixed with the less pompous SONIC YOUTH and a hint of contemporary Barcelona and NYC hardcore bands and then you may or not be close to describe ANXIETY's sound. The entire atmosphere of the record is hectic and oppressive with quite existential lyrics creating an overall feeling of uneasiness and internal confrontation pivotal to understand the band. Basically the band name says it best.
The record comes housed in a reverse board sleeve with 12 page booklet artwork by guitarist Sebastian Rivera and bassist Kay Logan and includes a download code.
Our take: Total "Best of 2016" contender right here. It's hard to stand out on a label like La Vida Es Un Mus that pretty much releases only the best that the punk scene has to offer, but Anxiety are truly something special. This is one of those records where, listening to it, it feels like the band has cracked some kind of code, like they've discovered something that others have been groping toward for some time. It seems like it's been rather fashionable to listen to and dress in an anarcho-punk style over the past several years, but few of the bands capture anything like the original sensibility of the original UK anarcho punk releases. Anxiety, however, is a different story. Not only do they reference some of the more obvious tropes of the genre like those Penny Rimbaud-esque, skittering snare rolls, but it also feels like they've really digested the sound and aren't afraid to add modern elements into the equation. There's just so much going on here... all of the songs are really different from one another, and the sounds are densely layered in such a way that I feel like I discover something new every time I listen. Moreover, this is one of those releases that just feels like it captures the zeitgeist, like it's the right release at the right time for the punk scene... it's exactly what I want to hear, and I have a feeling that you'll feel the same. So, pick this up now or wait until the end of the year to backtrack after you see it pop up on everyone's year-end list.