Annuals

Shit. I'm from Raleigh! That's what I thought when I read Justin's post today over at Crackers United about Annuals. I tend to get rather proud of people from the Raleigh area (not Clay Aiken per se, but most times) when they do stuff that gets them into the public eye. It's some kind of Southern brotherhood I think. Well, unfortunately, I didn't know of this band though. I missed Pitchfork's inclusion of them in their Mixtape and I missed their shows last weekend (Friday with Bishop Allen at Pianos, Saturday at Mercury Lounge) here in the city. Missed missed missed. Whatever, I love what I've heard thus far (not much but still very good) enough to know that Ace Fu done a smart thing by signing this band.

I'm not going to argue with Pitchfork's assessment, "...some fantasy hybrid of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire, and Broken Social Scene", but it was their other statement that really caught my eye:

"Ace Fu Records is blowin' up, what with getting their claws into Man Man, blog faves DeVotchka, and Books-alikes Tunng. But if their forthcoming Be He Me album lives up to what this track promises, North Carolina-based Annuals might be the label's best find yet."

Thems quite a bit of mini-hype building blocks right there. Add to that the fact that Spin.com also just featured the band yesterday and it looks like we've got ourselves "a band to watch". Best part - gooood songs. I love the songs below, "Brother" and "Dry Clothes", but I think I like "Carry Around" on their MySpace page better. That'll change though, it's still early. Just check them all out.

Listen:
"Brother" (from Pitchfork)
"Dry Clothes" (from Spin)

Visit Annuals on MySpace.

See them live:
Friction - 14 September 2006 @ Sin-é with Takka Takka, Femme Generation, and more TBA. (also - I'll be DJ that night...be there or else!)