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By: Adam Grant, Click to listen to More or Less Rose Perry is about as punk rock as one can be without attracting suspicion. Her band's a product of the D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) attitude, she admires Joan Jett, plays guitar speedily with a voice that can snarl while sounding sweet, plus her two cats are named after the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious.
When done absorbing those elements of Perry, add them to Nic VanHaverbeke (bass), Jesse Tomes (guitar) and fill-in drummer Todd Stewart, and you'll have the current incarnation of London, Ontario rock act, Anti-Hero. Formed close to 2 years ago, Anti-Hero took a year to put together what would become their debut LP, Unpretty - an album in which they peddled independently at first with no outside, large label assistance. However, after getting their own gigs and handling the distribution of Unpretty all by themselves for some time, they were soon approached by Addictive Records/Fontana North/Universal Music, who were looking to ensure that the Anti-Hero music would be made available worldwide through the web, as well as in stores right across Canada. "We obviously had no intentions of singing a record deal; we didn't even think we were going to," explains Perry. 
But whether the intentions were there or not is beside the point, because July 4, 2006 saw the re-release of Unpretty - an album that's context sways its way from social misconceptions, to moving on from dysfunctional relationships - delivered with an in your face rock n' roll style that Perry hopes will strike a chord within those who decide to take a listen.
"There's not something that's more fulfilling to an artist than being able to write material that other people can relate to, really get, and be able to get over what they're going through (just) by listening - I think that's awesome," she feels. "I try to write about social issues, that I've not only experienced, but things that I think a wider audience has experienced as well - they'll be able to grasp something out of the material, and maybe find a little comfort in what I'm saying." Along with having the hugely improved distribution plans in order, these messages that Perry and Anti-Hero are looking to convey will be tossed toward a larger base of head-banging boys and girls, as they'll be touring throughout the summer both in Canada and abroad through headlining gigs, and select spots on the world's most recognizable and popular punk rock festival, The Vans Warped Tour. Beyond that, Anti-Hero hope to get into the studio by March of next year, which still seems a ways away, considering that Perry, the chief songwriter, is sitting on a whole batch of brand new tunes that should continue to spread the notion that this group is more than just a pack of pretty faces - they, like important artists of the past, also have something unique to say. 
"If you ask me, I don't think there's been much talent out there since the death of the grunge period with Kurt Cobain," believes Perry. "I'm not saying that he was the be all and end all - I don't think he was an extremely gifted musician so to speak, but I do think he was an awesome songwriter and he spoke to a generation, and we haven't had somebody like that who's been so revolutionary, since.
"That's really sad," she continues. "I think that we definitely need an overhaul, and if my band can help contribute to that, obviously, all the power to us. I don't think we're the first band to do what we're doing, but I definitely think that we have an original perspective." For more information on Anti-Hero, please visit www.anti-hero.ca If you're outside of Canada and would like to purchase Unpretty, please visit www.maplemusic.com
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