Aug 18 2008
Lackthereof - Your Anchor
- Artist: Lackthereof
- Album: Your Anchor
- Label: Barsuk
- Release: 2008
- Links: MySpace
Lackthereof is comprised of Danny Seim, the drummer of Portland’s fantastic Menomena. The natural reaction would be to assume that Lackthereof is a side project for Seim, but that wasn’t initially the case. Seim began making music under the Lackthereof tag in 1997, three years before Menomena formed. Seim independently released six Lackthereof albums before signing with Menomena’s old label, FILMguerrero. Two more Lackthereof albums would follow before Seim, like Menomena did with 2007’s Friend And Foe, would make the transition to Barsuk Records. His first release for the label and ninth overall is Your Anchor.
In comparison to Menomena’s output, Your Anchor is obviously more straightforward, yet fans of Seim’s other band should enjoy what he has done here. Seim composed and performed Your Anchor entirely on his own and this personal approach is evident. The songs are never too muscular or too skeletal, opting instead for a melodic, mellow sound that lies somewhere in-between. Seim’s vocals have a cool sense of self-consciousness about them. Sometimes his lackadaisical approach dulls down the music, but it fits perfectly on tracks like “Fake Empire,” Seim’s beautiful, hazy take on a song from The National’s Boxer album.
Many listeners will be immediately drawn to “Last November,” the song that probably sounds most like Menomena. While I believe this is a great song and a fitting single if it were chosen as such, my favorite track is actually “Chest Pass,” a song that sums up everything Seim tries to accomplish with Your Anchor. It echoes the hazy vibe that I hinted at earlier while discussing Seim’s version of “Fake Empire.” In fact, much of Your Anchor sounds like the result of numerous 3 A.M. experiments, which is really part of its charm. Some of the late night diversions on Your Anchor aren’t fully realized, but the album shows that Seim is fully capable of running his own outfit. More importantly, it indicates just how much of a vital part of Menomena’s success he truly is.