Anamanaguchi

Last summer, after living across the country from each other for several years, the four members of Anamanaguchi decided to try something new. Their label Polyvinyl had rescued the famed American Football house from potential destruction, so the band took the opportunity to move in and write together. Over the course of a month, Anamanaguchi – pioneers of hyper-melodic 8-bit rock, whose extraordinary ascent has led them to topping charts with a virtual pop star – flipped their typically meticulous digital process on its head. The result is Anyway. Written in the converted living room-turned-practice space, Anamanaguchi walked away with the most personal record of their career. And it’s a rock record for the ages.

Anamanaguchi’s greatest strength isn’t their devotion to doing things differently, or their ability to translate net-life into emotionally resonant tunes – though they are incredible at both. It’s the way their actual, enduring friendships have allowed them to evolve together. “We’ve always stretched the limits of what counts as ‘being a band’,” says Warnaar, “but Anyway honors that special glue that’s kept us together all along.”