Annuals

Annuals: "Ida, My"
"Brother"
(from Lay Down Dry, 2005. Buy from the band.)

Just a quick post today about Annuals, a band I found poking around the SXSW listing of NC bands. (They played last night at the Velvet Spade.) Judging from these two songs, their MO seems to be a delicate, acoustic intro that makes you think they're somewhat akin to Sweater Weather (previously), exploding into a grandiose rock song, with perhaps some debt to U2. (I'm not one of those who thinks a U2 comparison is a bad thing...) I also like their willingness to explore with studio trickery -- I love the glitchy electronic percussion that kicks in about a minute and a half into "Ida, My". (The songs on the band's MySpace page suggest that they may also have some jam band tendencies.)

These guys are young, but they've been playing since they were 13/14. Annuals was actually an offshoot of a band called Sedona. Sedona still seems to be a going concern, but Annuals has taken the forefront, with an album, Lay Down Dry, released last year. It sounds like they've been working on a followup this year. I don't know when they're playing in the Triangle next, but they look like a fun show (esp if they wear the cat suit!), so I'll keep an eye open.