Anikus to perform in Dixon

DIXON – For the band Anikus, the breakdown is simple: Their digs aren’t flashy, their clothes are plain, and their music, frankly, isn’t particularly technical.

But it rocks.

The band from the Dixon-Polo area was formed 4 years ago, initially based on the long-standing friendship of drummer Mike McDaniel of Polo and frontman Bryan Kreiser from Dixon.

When the two players recruited more musicians for a casual jam session in 2005, fiery passions and eclectic tastes quickly sparked a windfall of guitar-driven hard rock.

“The first night was really, actually, pretty magical,” said rhythm guitarist Jason Stephens of Nachusa.

The group took on its final form with the aid of bassist Bob Turner, also of Dixon.

That led to the recording of the 2008 album, “Welcome,” an 11-song brawl between interchanging guitars, insidious vocals and a rhythm section that boasts an understated swagger.

“We just want to write and play good music,” McDaniel said. “And we love playing it and, hopefully, that comes across to the audience.”

That’ll be the band’s mind-set tonight, when they open for heavy metal group Burn Grinder at Dixon’s Beanblossom parking lot, in anticipation of a new album to be completed before the year’s end.

That release will exhibit a new craft of songs by Kreiser, who picks up the group’s main singing, songwriting and guitar duties – a tall order in any group.

“You’ve got to trust your songwriter, and we believe in what he does,” McDaniel said, adding that the songs frequently take on a new face after the group contributes its sound. “It evolves over time.”

In fact, the group’s dynamic will evolve further with the pending release of the album as Stephens steps up to pen three new songs, one of which is known only as “The Ballad” and takes on a tinge of country – an addition that’s not necessarily surprising; although last year’s “Welcome” is based in hard rock. The sounds on the disc span from a pseudo-calypso shuffle on “Down” to the unabashedly titled “Reggae.”

At the center of virtually every song, however, are Kreiser’s tenor vocals, which contain the playful tone of Primus’ Les Claypool and even a seductive, grandiose style sometimes evocative of Bono.