The Anniversary / Superdrag

The Anniversary isn’t abandoning the sound that brought it recognition. In recent concert appearances and on advance tracks from its upcoming disc, Your Majesty, the quintet’s Moog keyboard still goes “wee-ooh” all the way down its new-wave fun slides. But in a welcome change from the tell-almost-all album teasers that pass as singles these days, the songs on its split EP with Superdrag differ from anything in the group’s past — or, perhaps, its future. Recorded and written “spontaneously,” according to the liner notes, these tunes document the group’s whirlwind romance with misfortune: love gone numb, bullets to the brain, ugly surprises. Playing against type, the Anniversary delves into straightforward rock — downbeat, gritty, sloppy and miles from the band’s usual combination of cheery keyboards, clean melodies and choir-quality harmonies.

Superdrag, on the other hand, continues to pair smart lyrics with sharp riffs, which it does better than almost any active guitar-based trio. Tunes such as “Take Your Spectre Away” start slowly, usher instruments into the mix in a single-file line and gradually become multilayered gems that attach their glue-covered hooks to listeners’ long-term memories. Accenting its hand-clap-ready rhythms with tambourine shakes, Superdrag provides the instant antidote to the Anniversary’s dance-repellent pop noir, playing to perfection the complementary role that the split EP format demands.