Newest Blog Darlings and Band I'm Excited About:: ANNUALS

My initial exposure to Annuals was via their tune "Brother" and its entry onto Pitchfork's Infinite Mixtape series. The P4k blurb called the band a "fantasy hybrid of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire, and Broken Social Scene" and this description grabbed my attention and made me excited, yet not-a-little skeptical. I feared this was a gross example of critical hyperbole. Upon a cursory listen to "Brother" (through my laptop speakers, even), I was totally impressed.

This band's sound will be immediately familiar to those who listen to modern indie-rock and to round out the above-mentioned blurb from Pitchfork, let me provide this: "Brother" features the raw, explosive energy reminiscent of the rockers on Animal Collective's Feels, Arcade Fire-type grand orchestration, and even a bit of Broken Social Scene's communal vibe and densely layered production. The other two tunes I've heard are just as good, albeit maybe not quite as immediately compelling. "Bleary Eyed" illustrates the band effectively craft a (mostly) straight-forward rock song and "Dry Clothes" is a toe-tapping, head-bobbing indie pop number. On these three tracks, Annuals provide a fairly strong case that they are no one-trick-pony and have the versitility, chops, and songwriting skills to craft an impressive full-length.

Annuals will release their debut album Be He Me October 17th through Ace Fu Records-- home of MAN MAN, DeVotchKa, An Albatross, and Pinback. The band will be sharing some dates with Man Man and Art Brut before hitting the road with Tapes 'n Tapes in October.

While I am eagerly awaiting my copy of the album to arrive, the band has made a few tracks available for download. If you are into the music featured on this site, you will like Annuals; it's that simple. Enjoy these tracks and watch out for these guys, it looks like they are gonna be huge. With Pitchfork's main man Ryan Schreiber and many influential bloggers on-board, how could they possibly not be?


MP3: Annuals - "Brother"
MP3: Annuals - "Bleary Eyed"
MP3: Annuals - "Dry Clothes"


ANNUALS Tour Dates:
Sep 1 The Brewery Raleigh, NC w/ House of Fools
Sep 12 Khyber Philadelphia, PA
Sep 14 Sin-E (KEXP) New York, NY w/ Friction
Sep 15 North Six Brooklyn, NY
Sep 16 The Middle East Boston, MA
Sep 18 Grog Shop Cleveland, OH w/ Man Man
Sep 19 Subterranean Chicago, IL
Oct 19 Irving Plaza New York, NY w/ Art Brut
Oct 20 Starlight Ballroom Philadelphia, PA w/ Art Brut
Oct 22 Bottletree Birmingham, AL w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 24 Club Down Under Tallahassee, FL w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 25 Common Grounds Gainesville w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 26 The Social Orlando, FL w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 27 Cafe 11 St. Augustine, FL w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 28 Tasty World Athens, GA w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 29 The Loft Atlanta, GA w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 30 The Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC w/ Tapes 'n Tapes
Oct 31 Black Cat Washington, DC w/ Tapes 'n Tapes

Visit Annuals on MySpace.