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Away From Here

Anatomy Of A Broken Heart (2003)
Lonely Tree

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Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on January 20th 2004

Attention: the phrase "run-of-the-mill" has now been replaced by "standing in line" because it's so goddamn crowded.

Emotional pop-punk with relatively token growls don't propel Saskatchewan, Canada's Away From Here towards being much more than a second-rate Matchbook Romance. Their sound may not try to molest the word 'derivative,' but it's being counseled as we speak. The lyrics are at times downright laughable, like in "Poison Arrows," where clean singing trades off with growls; "if this is kissing an angel / THEN I'D RATHER BURN IN HELL! / your lipgloss tastes like cherry / WHY DOES IT BURN LIKE CYANIDE?!" The guitars are nicely heavy in some places (the beginning of "Gently Crash"), but quickly retreat into a mouse hole for less-than-candid, poppy progressions as soon as the vocals come in.

AFH aren't at a complete loss. The vocalist may be a bit nasally but not at all annoying, even if he may he be ridiculously overdubbed in some spots. The drums show occasional greatness, especially when it incorporates the double-bass. Showing the most promise is "The Day the Sun Died," which takes a break from the album's theme of love and heartbreak with its vague commentary on the media / blind patriotism, and practically tips its hat to Thursday when the distorted-talking part comes in (think "Paris in Flames"); "the day the sun died is upon us / and the glow of your CNN comforts your black heart / open your eyes, open your mind / get out of this windowless room."

You're probably sick of this genre. If so, I wouldn't recommend it. If you can't get enough of it, then...well, maybe you'll like it.

MP3s
"Poison Arrows"
"Anatomy of a Broken Heart"

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Anonymous (October 26, 2004)

''40,000 over-skinny emo kids have just bought this because of the "second rate Matchbook Romance" line.''

i have no idea what youre talking about . you scene kids annoy me . stop serachign for 1000 bands to find something to brag about . this cd is good and the band is fine the way it is .

Anonymous (October 26, 2004)

my score was put in by default . sorry .

Anonymous (October 26, 2004)

not at all sick of this ''sub genre''

everyone is looking for groundbreaking to show off their new found band . thats scene x 10 .

Anonymous (September 2, 2004)

Since when the fuck did A Static Lullaby have street cred, they recorded a demo, sent it to ferret, got signed, and released a shitty cd, they never worked half as hard as away from here has, and away from here released a full length independently. A Static Lullaby never toured outside of their state before getting signed big, so shut up about street cred until you actually no what it means.

Anonymous (July 2, 2004)

i REALLY like this cd.. i know the lyrics arnt tooooo solid but they fit with the song..

if you like this band check out a band called park

Anonymous (May 3, 2004)

I enjoy Poison Arrows a lot, I hated it at first but it grew on me. Then again, I'm really deep into a post hardcore/hardcore mood, so that's probably influenced my tolerence for the song.

I think the guys in this band have some skill, a lot of potential. I just think they're unoriginal as fuck. "Your lipgloss tastes like cherry" Leave that shit to Atreyu and A Static Lullaby. It's a cool concept I guess, the whole lip gloss obsession, but shit, some one else beat you to it, so give it up. It's not cool enough to extend it any further than 2 or 3 bands. Those bands also have to have a lot of street cred too, which Atreyu and ASL do. That lipgloss line is just simply one of the most unoriginal things I've ever heared in my life.

This band is "trendy" and unoriginal. I think they have some skill, so that why I'm giving them any rating at all, plus the fact I enjoy Poison Arrows when I'm in the mood. However, this band is going absolutely no where unles they can get off their asses and learn how to get some inspiration and write music of their own.

As trendy and unoriginal as this band is, I don't see that happeneing.

noreply (January 26, 2004)

alright, here is my plan, we start a new band called "The Broken Hearted Bandits", we then release a cd called "Strike a match for i deserve to burn alive, dont forget to breath over the sound of broken glass.", we then make millions.

Anonymous (January 26, 2004)

40,000 over-skinny emo kids have just bought this because of the "second rate Matchbook Romance" line.

Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

this score is for the title of this record. ugh. honestly, could you imagine being one of these guys' ex-girlfriends? dont bands realize that if they only write one or two songs about girls that they will, in turn, have greater meaning. write about anything else! please! there are so many other topics. can i please just have some fresh and original music. please?

-benz

Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

Being a fan of away from here, I'd just like to say thank you to the rest of the comments. Seeing as you took the time to post comments, means you've obviously either bought there cd, or listened to their mp3's on mp3.com or purevolume, which then helped expose them to thousands of other people who do like them, once again, thank you very much for you support!

Anonymous (January 22, 2004)

saskatchewan is lame. so is this band. i saw them once and almost threw stuff at them for being so cheesy. and that guy with the x's on his hands. no real sXe kid would be caught dead playing in this band.

oh i'm being a tad harsh..but really. I don't like em.