CD Reviews

Annuals

Be He Me | Ace Fu

By SHARON STEEL | January 9, 2007

3.0 Stars

“I got magic . . . coming out my fingers!”, Adam Baker screeches at the start of “Carry Around.” A healthier-looking Southern version of Omaha indie poster boy Conor Oberst, the 20-year-old Baker is the resident composer of Annuals, and though he isn’t exactly modest about his talent, it’s not an illusion. If ever there was an album made for frolicking in a sunshine-drenched field of tall grass without stopping to worry about ticks, skin cancer, or getting lost, it would be the Annuals’ debut. You could work up a sweat stomping to the climax of “Brother,” a rock song that conjures cult-like intensity. And the ecstatic crescendo of swirling electronica blips and bleeps at the tail end of “Ida, My” is just the sort of interlude the mixmasters at The OC will abuse when they attempt to invoke that final feeling of exuberant youth to end the series. It’s true that Annuals are as harmlessly precocious as you might expect of a piano-and-laptop-driven psychedelic pop outfit that’s been touted for its “joyful eccentricity” (New York Times) and for producing “a dazzling sonic kaleidoscope” (Spin). But as with any good coming-of-age story, there’s a freakish recklessness in these kids and their music that implies there’s more to them than a TV-friendly moment of artless bliss. Be He Me bloomed right on time; Annuals probably aren’t far behind.

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Topics: CD Reviews , Conor Oberst

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Annuals, "Brother" (mp3)

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