The Only Children

Kansas City's the Anniversary tweaked emo tradition in two ways: 1. They had a female singer, which meant frontman Josh Berwanger could only pull off so much girls-are-mean before Adrianne Pope would defend her kind, and 2. They were willing to grow, going from synth-pop cuties to prog-rock scaries in...

By Mikael Wood

September 23, 2004

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Kansas City's the Anniversary tweaked emo tradition in two ways: 1. They had a female singer, which meant frontman Josh Berwanger could only pull off so much girls-are-mean before Adrianne Pope would defend her kind, and 2. They were willing to grow, going from synth-pop cuties to prog-rock scaries in just two records. There's a woman in Berwanger's new band, the Only Children, and he's moved on again stylistically, too; on Change of Living, their forthcoming debut, the Children sound like Kings of Leon with less attitude (and less hair). Not much tradition-tweaking, to be sure, but give 'em time.

KEEP THE OBSERVER FREE... Since we started the Dallas Observer, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.