The Anniversary

Finding a niche can be one of the most difficult tasks that a band can face. Many bands struggle for a lifetime to find a sound that has wide enough appeal to reach a real audience. The Anniversary had to deal with this problem not once, but twice over the course of their very brief career. Hailing from Lawrence, KS, they started out with a huge obstacle, attempting to fit into an underdeveloped music scene. Having attracted the attention of Lawrence's biggest band, The Get Up Kids, in 1999, they signed to Vagrant Records. In 2000, they recorded their debut album, Designing a Nervous Breakdown.

With their boy-girl vocals and heavy moog synthesizer use, the band was unfairly dismissed by critics as a poor man's Rentals. However, despite these two similarities, The Anniversary went far beyond the range of The Rentals on this album. In place of fuzzed out bass, they used chiming guitars. The back-and-forth vocals of Josh Berwanger and Adrianne Verhoeven conveyed urgency rather than The Rentals' trademark apathy. Although Designing a Nervous Breakdown was a nearly perfect synth-rock record, they were bound to touring with their pop-punk/emo labelmates, such as Saves the Day and Dashboard Confessional. This instantly maligned the band in the indie-rock world.

It seemed that no matter how hard they tried, The Anniversary could not manage to be taken seriously. Releasing a split EP with Superdrag in 2001, the band did away with the synths entirely, trading them in for tambourines and harmonicas. In fact, by the time they released their sophomore album, Your Majesty, they sounded nothing like the band they were just 2 years earlier. This record found the band looking backward to the psychadelic, flower-power rock of the late 60's and early 70's. Although they had completely reinvented their sound, they successfully avoided coming off as cheesy or insincere. The change in direction did polarize some old fans, but they finally managed to avoid the wrath of the critics.

Ironically, despite The Anniversary's new, decidedly happier tone, the band itself was splintering under the constant grind of touring and recording. In early 2004, just as they started to gain some notoriety, they released a statement on their website announcing the band's breakup without any specific explanation. Since then, Berwanger has been playing with The Only Children, abandoning indie rock altogether for hippie jamouts. Verhoeven has found a place in Omaha' Saddle Creek family, recording under the name DRI. In 2008, Vagrant Records released a 2-disc B-side album, called Devil On Our Side. These songs are rather uneven on their own, but it allows the listener to follow their transition from one sound to another beat by beat. While certainly interesting, it is sad to hear such brilliant musicians struggling so hard to find an audience.

Check out the video for "All Things Ordinary" from Designing a Nervous Breakdown here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaVoCPOnM9g

Sunny Day Real Estate

When a great band dies once, it is tragic. When a great band continues to die over and over again, it is just plain frustrating. Seattle's Sunny Day Real Estate have returned from the grave several times, only to crawl right back in several months later. Starting as a 3-piece in 1992, the band originally consisted of guitarist/vocalist Dan Hoerner, bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith. This group went through several different names, including Empty Set, Chewbacca Kaboom, and One Day I Stopped Breathing, none of which gained them any attention.

While Mendel went on tour with another band, Hoerner took over bass duties, and Jeremy Enigk was recruited to fill in on guitar. In the following months, the band rearranged their positions, making Enigk the lead singer with Hoerner singing backup. With this lineup in place, they changed their name to Sunny Day Real Estate and released two 7"s, Flatland Spider and Thief, Steal Me a Peach. These EP's attracted the attention of local label Sub Pop records, who eventually signed the band and released their breakthrough album Diary in 1994.

Diary is the prototype for every emo album that came out during the 90's and is responsible for most melancholic indie rock that exists today. SDRE took the loud/soft dynamic that the Pixies invented and made the loud louder and the soft softer. The band recieved some play on the lesser-known MTV shows, including The Jon Stewart Show and 120 Minutes. However, aside from this, they made very little attempt at reaching larger audiences. For example, on their US tour with Shudder to Think and Soul Coughing, they inexplicably refused to play shows in California.

After the Diary tour, SDRE parted ways for unknown reasons. The most popular rumor is that Enigk's sudden conversion to Christianity tore the band apart. Mendel and Goldsmith went on to become the rhythm section for the Foo Fighters. It seemed that SDRE were dead, but before they broke up, they had recorded several songs in the studio. Sub Pop took these songs as well as some B-sides from the Diary sessions, and released them as LP2, also known as "The Pink Album." When Sub Pop approached them with the idea of releasing another rarities record, they decided to simply regroup and record another album. Mendel was still playing with the Foo Fighters, but Goldsmith was replaced by Taylor Hawkins in 1997.

The resulting album, How It Feels To Be Something On, was a considerable departure from their previous work. Enigk's once searing vocals had oddly transitioned into an entrancing falsetto, among other layered melodies. The rest of the band explored many different genres, only half of which actually worked. They went on to release another album, the virtually unlistenable The Rising Tide in 2000. While on tour for this album, their new label, Time Bomb Records, went under and they decided to break up as well. In 2002, Enigk, Mendel, and Goldsmith reunited for one album under the name The Fire Theft. Although not quite SDRE, it was certainly a step up from their last album. Dan Hoerner regrettably joined Dashboard Confessional. Enigk still plays as a solo artist, and has recently suggested the possibility of a SDRE reunion. It is hard to say whether or not this is a good thing.

Despite the shakiness of their later work, there is no good reason why you should not pick up Diary and LP2. Sunny Day Real Estate is a perfect example of the band that has already passed their prime by the time they gain any kind of recognition. Check out "In Circles" from Diary here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDSsh7Ocv8o