Thursday, September 14, 2006

Annuals Bloom This October

The Annuals are sexy (see the pics on their myspace), but don't let that fool you. This band is all substance. Their debut, Be He Me, is packed with powerful, dynamic music, and is a must-buy on October 17th on Ace Fu.

Oh, and don't listen to these tracks yet.

To be fully amazed, don your best set of headphones first. These are not meant for A.M. radio. At times, they want to burrow and weave into and out of your subconscious, they want to engulf you, they want to pummel you, sometimes all in the same three minutes. But for them to be effective, you'll have to be able to hear everything.

1. Brother (mp3)
Crickets, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, violin, hushed vocals, something buzzing: this is campfire music, a lullaby. Then the song slips into a dream. Strange noises and spaceship sounds lead into anthemic electric chords. It's an intergalactic arena rock dream. And then it wakes up again, rain falling on the leaves.

2. Dry Clothes (mp3)
Dry Clothes kicks off with...R2D2(?), who shuts up and lets the song stray into acoustic arpeggios, violin pulses, and classic rock vocal harmonizing. And then the electric guitar hook that could be straight out of Dan "the Destroyer" Bejar's catalogue. A piano wanders in, pulling the reins on the tempo, and the same line repeats.

3. Bleary Eyed (mp3)
Bleary Eyed is more straightforward, vocally forceful, percussion-fueled, its harmonies influenced by the classics. You can drive to this one.

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