SRR-07 THE ANALS 7″

Songs

A: Commando of Love
B: Wake Up You’re Dead

Release Date: June 2008

Pressing Info:

1st press: 100 on white (sold out)

400 on black (sold out)

2nd press: 200 on black (sold out)

Reviews:

From The Wire (Byron Coley):

Archival issue from this great Vancouver scab-punk label, salvaging two tracks by a defunct French duo. Their sound is similar to some of the classic French art punk groups (from Metal Urbain to RWA), combining fuzzy guitar, simple rhythms and grotty vocals to quite great effect. But their sound is different, too. The guitar is much more psychedelically unhinged than expected, and the effect is quite unsmudged.

From Dusted (Doug Mosurak):

Synth panic and a leveling punk rock beat flesh out “Commando of Love” from French tonguebathers The Anals – all the earmarks of a classic right here, with a catchy premise and a large, simple sound. Synth, vocals, and drums, nothing else. Sweet Rot doesn’t usually work out for me so well but this an exception that hopefully will change that around a bit. Really, this is all you need – intrigue and danger somewhere in the sound, and a language that implies ownership. Even the trendy minimal synth B-side works, because the Anals, rough as they are, never forget that mood sometimes trumps riffs, and that great things can happen when they’re applied in the proper balance. Great single!

From Terminal Boredom (Rich Kroneiss):

Debut, and quite possibly only, release from this two-piece digital-punk band from the wild streets of Metz, France. The tragic story is that one-half of this band (Benoit) passed away in late 2007, leaving this batch of recordings out of which Sweet Rot cherry-picked this single, although I’ve heard much of their output via CDR and this seems to be just the tip of the old iceberg. With links to AH Kraken and Electric Guitars and part of Le Grande Triple Alliance Internationalle de L’Est , whose triple pronged cross logo you’ve probably noticed on records by Feeling of Love, Normals (Seb Normal handled the recording on this) and other French genre-benders. “Commando of Love” is a synth-droner that tells a story of love in WWII. “Wake Up You’re Dead” fills the flipside with a digital take on relentless Brainbombs-like beat-hammering awash with freeform guitar damage and desperate vocals. For fans of the more evil side of French gluewave. Scum stats: first 100 on white, the other 400 on black. Sweet Rot scores major points with this last batch of sleeves as well, wonderful glued pockets on textured paper with stark b&w art.

From Maximum Rock’n’Roll (Paul Lucich):

My exposure to the French underground has been pretty limited, my exposure to the BRAINBOMBS has also been limited, but to me this sounds like the French underground via the BRAINBOMBS. There’s a no wave vibe to it too – THE ANALS are more abrasive than a band like CHEVEU is. The music sounds good. They make good use of the drum machine, synths, and whatever else they’re working with. The aloofness/sass of the vocals doesn’t sit right with me, but THE ANALS seem to know how to stir what they’re mixing because the record is engaging at times. They have some god live shit floating around on YouTube. If you think the BRAINBOMBS catalogue is cause for modern approval, or if you’re pretty into the French underground this should float your boat.

From Fuck You Counselor Blog:

Sometimes when you walk into a house, restaurant or bar, an atmospheric consort quickly settles on you like a comforting snowfall. Maybe it’s the lighting, the smells from the kitchen, or the looks on a few new faces. Whatever it is, you feel immediately a part of whatever’s happening and you want to keep it that way. Records, in my experience, are no different. The right sequence of elements, whether expected or not, can change the listening experience into something beyond sensory.

So I feel it necessary to mention that less than 15 seconds into the debut and solitary-outing of French duo the Anals, I was instantly at home. It happened with those bands creeping out of Monterrey, Mexico, too, and in much the same way. A few simple notes on the keyboard and the trust of hands and feet and I was sold. I’ve already played it three times this afternoon and I won’t be sleepy for hours. Granted, after giving the Anals a listen you may decide that my “home sweet home” is a damp and unpleasantly eerie parking lot regularly frequented by undesirables. Hey, everyone needs somewhere to lay their head. There’s something gleefully disaffected about the Anals’ rhythmic synth punk, like they’re lovingly relishing the aftermath of their destructive early-twenties. I’m still there, so I’ve been treating this as a biting satire of 20/20 hindsight; a way of looking back that I can look…forward…to. And if you’re making punk records in the 21st century, isn’t that what it oughta be about?

Send jer drool & confetti to Sweet Rot.

From Seven Ten Twelve Blog:

I’ve had The Anals 7″ now for a couple of months, and I think it might be love. I keep saying to myself that this is the top of “the list” (you know), and I think the fact that it has never been filed with my other records speaks to this. “Commando of Love” is pretty simple – primitive drums, repeating synth line, some feedback, some french guy yelling about something. All of this is pretty effective, in that it manages to build into a really menacing mood piece. “Wake Up, You’re Dead” follows the same path, with a NES-styled synth bass, and a wall of squelching feedback. All in all, I am digging this because of how listenable these songs are. On top of that is one of the best 7″ sleeve I have seen this year. An all around package.