Review: Annuals - Be He Me (or) breaking barriers and losing control

Posted on 10 October 2006 | 1 Comment

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock

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Be He Me is the latest CD from North Carolina’s Annuals and it is dense, eclectic, and just plain good. It is (generally) in the indie rock vein, but references just about every genre imaginable. Freak folk, shoegaze, Caribbean party grooves, country-tinged foot stompers, slow jams, and (yes) even indie rock. What might turn into a mess of sound if played by lesser musicians, (thankfully) doesn’t. The band flexes their compositional and instrumental muscle by (oftentimes) jumping erratically from one style to the next. Somehow it works.

Although I’m a little late posting about Annuals, it’s only because I’ve been listening to (and loving) Be He Me for the past few weeks and trying to wrap my head around it. In the meantime, it seems that there is quite a buzz about the band.

“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 (Brother) promises, North Carolina-based Annuals might be the label’s best find yet.” – Pitchfork

Be He Me officially hits stores on October 17th courtesy of Ace Fu Records. While other reviews have said Annuals sound like “a band playing Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Sufjan Stevens covers all at the same time,” I think that there are more obvious comparisons. RIYL: Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Rogue Wave, The Shins, etc…

MP3 | Annuals – Brother Be He Me
MP3 | Annuals – Bleary Eyed Be He Me
MP3 | Annuals – Dry Clothes Be He Me