“Uncanny” by Anberlin, Friday, May 24, 2024

In another life, we would have a light, optimistic Anberlin. This version of the band would have followed up their bright-eyed debut Blueprints for the Black Market with an upbeat pop-rock album about the gender divide, high school crushes, and traveling the world. But the band chose to go in a hard rock sound for their sophomore album, Never Take Friendship Personal, in part because of some of the conflicts the band had with guitarist Joey Bruce, whom they kicked out before the record. The hard rock album with grittier lyrics didn’t completely kill Anberlin’s pop-punk sentiments with songs like “A Lay Late” and “Time and Confusion” becoming fan favorites.
 

OH, THEY LOVE THESE AMERICAN BOYS. Anberlin’s third album, Cities, took an even darker tone than their sophomore record. The intense album had the pop-rock moments of “Adelaide” and “Dismantle.Repair.” But the serious tone of the album as a whole left no room for the carefree moments on the previous albums. Lead singer and lyricist Stephen Christian stated that he viewed the first three albums as a series, Blueprints as “Man versus the world,” Friendship as “Man versus man,” and Cities as “Man versus himself.” From the hectic schedule of Anberlin’s touring and from what Stephen talked about on the Songs and Stories Podcast, he was dealing with a lot when he wrote the lyrics for Cities. The band had at least 4 B-sides, 3 of which were released on a Deluxe Edition, appearing after the 12th track, “(*Fin).” Directly after the emotionally charged album closer, the band used what could have been Cities' most optimistic song to open the three-song bonus suite. “Uncanny” is a strong ‘90s-influenced pop-rock track that would work if Cities were a light-hearted album. While the lyrics appear to be about a romantic interest, Christian has talked about how the song is about traveling the world with the band. 

ASK ANYTHING, WE’LL WATCH THE WORLD GO BY.  I don’t know why Anberlin named an unspooky track “Uncanny.” Perhaps the band’s biggest B-side of all time is “The Haunting,” which they cut from Cities as it didn’t fit the tone of the album. I was embarrassingly too old to admit that I didn’t know that the meaning of uncanny implied something creepy, as I tended to only think about the meaning as being coincidental. That was before I learned about the uncanny valley, which is truly creepy. Maybe Stephen Christian found it strange to think of himself in the role of a successful world-traveling rock band. A music career has opportunities like Copeland inviting Anberlin to play in Tokyo. Those moments come quickly with plane tickets, packing, and passports, but it’s only when you catch the reflection of five boys and their unwashed long hair as the JR Narita Express takes the tunnel on the way to your hotel that you will try to sleep off the 16-hour flight and the 13 hour time difference you start to think about your life in the greater scheme of the universe. Yes, of course, I’m speculating what may have gone through Stephen Christian’s head as well as projecting how I might feel if I were in his position as an up-and-coming rock band. Without the feeling of fame, it’s how I feel every time I board a plane to America or come back to Korea. The world feels big, and when you see your position in it, it’s uncanny.

Read “Uncanny” by Anberlin on Genius.