GARY FLANAGAN
ANTHEMS FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART
ALBUM LEXICON RELEASE: WINTER, 2000 REVIEW: MARCH 10, 2000


With a tear in my eye, I have to accept that Gary Flanagan may have gone a bit too retro on "Anthems for the Young at Heart". He’s a Canadian with a passion for minimal, oldschool synthpop. I’ve heard people mention Flanagan in the same breath as Robert Marlow, and it troubles me, almost gave me a heart attack.
Gary has a dry, monotone voice that totally lacks the Marlow warmth and feel. Most of the songs are almost comically built, not that the early synthpop eighties was a blur of complex structures, but this is nothing short of standard synth base lines, and analogue bleeps and sweeps thrown in for effect.
"Anthems for the Young at Heart" may still very well attract some of the hardcore eighties fans. It’s not terrible, but won’t work unless you’re drunk or too tired to demand something special.

NIKLAS FORSBERG