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If my first encounter with Anthmz, “Soft Core,” found them to be anything but, musically speaking, this new one takes things even further into their unabashed, riotous, and anthemic punk ‘n’ funk ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll sound. This celebration of those seasonal loves that blaze as hot as the summer sun and last only as long, combines everything great about the rock and roll sound. Not rock; that’s a different beast, and actually, “Summer Queen” is a classic example of the difference between the two camps.
If rock music tends to be built on monolithic and often musically monosyllabic sounds, if it is big and full of bombast for the sake of bombast, if it is favored by adolescents of all ages who think that such a sound, scene, and style makes them look somehow tough, rock and roll just laughs at such childish pretensions.
As Summer Queen demonstrates, rock and roll swings rather than rocks; it is built on short, sharp, and shockingly satisfying riffs rather than just volume and velocity. It employs punkish sonic salvos, ones filled with attitude and groove rather than just rock music’s usual technical boredom. It is punchy and proud; it looks you in the eye and dares you not to dance, bop, boogie, flip a wig, cut a rug, or whatever the kids call it these days.
“Summer Queen” does all that and more. Next time you want to know what the spirit of rock and roll actually is, play this. Then play it again. Again, again and again. It tells you everything that you need to know on the matter.
