Refrigerator's 1994 release
How You Continue Dreaming drifts through the intensely indirect songs that are the band's trademark with an eerie twang that tends to stir the emotions more than soothe them.
Anchors of Bleed, on the other hand, has the band aiming a few degrees closer to prettiness. It's certainly one of the group's cleaner releases. There are several lovely pop tunes like "Amber Major," which hint at the truly direct songwriting that would define the band's self-titled album. The most interesting progression, however, is in the rustic beauty of drawling and languid tracks that wasn't entirely present in the emotional torpor of the album's predecessor. This may mean that this album isn't as idiosyncratic as
How You Continue Dreaming, nor as direct and accessible as Refrigerator, but its sound is equally appealing. The composition reveals a focus and an eye for melody that's not as pronounced on other
Refrigerator releases. ~ Nitsuh Abebe