Brother / Dry Clothes / Complete or Completing / Carry Around / Chase You Off / Bleary Eyed / Fair / The Bull And The Goat / Mama / Ida, My / Father / Sway / Ease My Mind / River Run / Misty Coy

VIRGIN RECORDS

Following on the heels of the lushly orchestrated indie rock likes of the Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, North Carolina's hotly tipped Annuals are the latest band to have the underground buzzing with anticipation and excitement.

Debut album BE HE ME justifies the hype, Adam Baker's band delivering a record chock full of sweeping orchestral bluster, fragile beauty and consistently surprising u turns and double takes.  Opener BROTHER is the perfect starting point, a song that develops from minor key work of indie introspection to orgasmic explosion of pop ecstasy in the space of its all too short life span; Adam Baker and his band lurching into blistering action midway through and nearly blowing the speakers of unsuspecting listeners lulled into a false sense of security by the preceding pastoral calmness.  COMPLETE OR COMPLETING is a more straight ahead but no less compelling affair, Tortoise like jazz drum patterns underpinning the spidery guitar riffs and Baker's Wayne Coyne meets Frank Black vocal style, a voice that can veer between fragile croon and viscous howl with disarming ease.

The schizophrenic sounding CARRY AROUND takes this effect and runs rampant with it, Baker sounding sweetly innocent one minute and psychotically enraged the next; an effect gloriously reminiscent of prime Modest Mouse.

CHASE YOU OFF is a more relaxed, languid affair wherein Annuals indulge in swooning guitar excursions and lolloping drum patterns; though they can't resist the odd moment of explosive release, erupting into soaring alt-rock nirvana when the mood takes them.  The acoustic BLEARY EYED is shot through with quirky keyboard riffs and moments of offbeat charm, an effect that recalls the much missed Grandaddy.

If you had to venture a criticism of BE HE ME, its perhaps the sheer volume of material and ideas going on here can prove a touch dizzying and intimidating at times; the record, particularly in its latter stages leaving you a little overwhelmed.  This is a minor criticism of an times stunning record though, when an albums only downside is an embarrassment of riches you know you're in pretty safe territory.  BE HE ME could well see Annuals emerge as the next alt-rock darlings in the Arcade Fire/Modest Mouse vein; delivering here a debut record chock full of invention, grace and fragile brilliance.

BIOGRAPHY

It often seems that in the modern age of A&R (online or off) wherein each and every new band gets myspaced, you-tubed and generally blogged to oblivion amidst the hurricane of fresh-faced young talent, sorting the peaches from the lemons has become an art in itself. Hailing from Raleigh, the placid capital of North Carolina, Annuals most thankfully steer well clear of sourness.

 From the outset Annuals have been as close as possible to being a family without sharing the same DNA:- Long-time friends Adam Baker (vocals), Kenny Florence (guitar) and Mike Robinson (bass) have been in bands together since they were kids. Gradually joined by Zack Oden (drums/guitar), Anna Spence (piano/synth), and Nick Radford (drums) over the past few years the band have steadily developed a sophisticated, multi-layered sound that belies the age of a band whose members are no older than 22.  Annuals’ debut album ‘Be He Me’ will get its long awaited UK release on June 18.

 Youthful though they are, the band draws influences from many a 20th Century classic:- Mike Patton, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon, Radiohead, the Beatles, Hank Williams Sr. Bjork and Aphex Twin are just some of the artists held in considerable esteem by the six piece. The mixing of styles, from electronica, to folk, to rock, results in a wholly singular sound. Reminiscent of ‘high drama’ artists such as Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, this musical collective appeals to both experimental and pop fans who appreciate well-written and produced material, and astounding artistry.

In Annuals, chief songwriter Adam’s creativity has truly found a place to evolve and blossom – being firmly embedded within a group of individually and extremely talented musicians has made for a heady, sprawling, hypnotic, yet impeccably polished musical mix.  Annuals’ music is infused with an intensity and sense of joy which sets them alongside many of their forbearers - the likes of Animal Collective and The Flaming Lips (both Flaming Lips and Jarvis Cocker personally requested them as touring partners at the end of 2006) spring to mind -  as their debut longplayer ‘Be He Me’ holds testament to.

 Annuals’ music possesses distinct ‘escapist fantasy’ qualities – there is an otherworldliness to the band which is difficult to harness.  It is erratic in the best possible way  - one moment ebbing and flowing, soothing the senses and easing you into a finger-picked, ambient world of whispered vocals and strings…the next slapping senses awake and wrenching them into an exhilarating universe hemmed in by cascading drums, incredibly loud post-rock guitars and wholly uplifting choruses. It is however, an ecstatically happy dysfunctional marriage.

 The UK release of their debut, though preceded by valuable taster EP ‘Big Zeus’ back in February, has been eagerly awaited for some months now. Released in the US in October 2006, ‘Be He Me’ racked up critical praise Stateside. Described as being “not born from human wombs, but cloned in a Petri-dish from the LSD-twisted DNA of Wayne Coyne” (NME)…and that, surely, can only be a good thing…I give you Annuals – the mighty, occasionally flighty, wholly uplifting sound of your summer.

LINE UP

Adam Baker

Kenny Florence

Mike Robinson

Zack Oden

Anna Spence

Nick Radford

DISCOGRAPHY

BE HE ME (Virgin Records>2007)

Brother

Dry Clothes

Complete or Completing

Carry Around

Chase You Off

Bleary Eyed

Fair

The Bull And The Goat

Mama

Ida My

Father

Sway

LINKS

Annuals>www.annualsmusic.com

FURTHER LISTENING

Arcade Fire

Modest Mouse

Tortoise