I Am Nothing But Books

You've probably seen the 8+ feature over at Ear FARM, in which Matt spotlights the longer (eight-plus minute) songs. It's one of my favorite ideas, and today when I found myself spinning a certain epic (with a title to match!) over and over, I couldn't help but share.

The Anniversary - I Believe that the End of the Reign of Terror is Soon Near [mp3]

Funny enough, this was my introduction to the band I'd call favorite for years. It's a stunning, if grandiose, statement from the now-defunct Lawrence band, complete with distinct sections and a wonderfully emo sincerity throughout. Which isn't to say it's too precious - at their best (and indeed most of the time) the Anniversary transcended emo's negative connotations, producing ridiculously catchy and interesting pop. "I Believe..." is their strangest song, and my personal favorite. I've never been able to describe the sound adequately, perhaps due to the thousands of plays, each one further defining it as its own separate entity, an anomaly in both the Anniversary's catalog and my collection as a whole.

First, it's ambitious. It works around multiple parts, all well-executed in their own right, and attached seamlessly. Two minutes into the song, thrilling, surf-inflected guitars hit like a storm wave (coincidence?), clearing out the cool, rolling intro. When they subside, only dark keys remain, the song leveled and reconstructed over the rest of its running time. There seems to be a logic to the progression, an accessibility not always present in such epics (see Friedberger symphonies).

Second, it's self-assured. The Anniversary never had a problem with confidence, as those who followed them into Your Majesty's pretentious change-the-world Beatles phase can attest. Here, it allows them to pull of what could easily be a silly, eight-and-a-half minute flop. Though they're a bit ridiculous, the lyrics do lend the song the aforementioned air of grandiosity, sounding better than they read. (That said, I did write an award-winning poem based on them in high school.) Along with the sweeping music and Adrienne Verhoeven's beautiful chorus of "Ahh"s, they create a dynamic, interesting song whose passion keeps it just-this-side of self-indulgence.

The track was released on Vagrant Records' Another Year on the Streets, still available here (from $0.29, too).

***

Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands has Rilo Kiley's appearance at the Elliott Smith tribute show.

Rbally has Josh Ritter's appearance on German radio - not to be missed.

Enjoy!