Monday, June 17, 2013

MP3 REVIEW: Annuals “Time Stamp”

$8 to Download // Free to Stream

                When the first song on this album begins, I hear an acoustic guitar and think “Oh great, here comes another boring folk album”.   Boy could I have not been more long, as the first line of the album is “It’s been a couple years since I gave a fuck”.  Whoa.  Much like a line early on in a song once turned me off completely on an album; this made me want to keep listening to “Time Stamp” and actually took away all my other preconceived notions about this album and band.

                The lines about “not thanking him for a life like this” make me think that this album has lyrics that struggle with God and religion, all that, you know.   I’m in a good place there, so I can’t necessarily reflect those same opinions and feelings, but I do enjoy listening to the singer for Annuals belt them out like that dude from All-American Rejects.  (I know, I interviewed him once, so I should remember his name is Tyson something, but you get the point)

                The fun part about this album is that it makes me want to notice the distinction between acoustic sounding and electronic sounding music, but then see that those two very different opposites of the spectrum can be combined and fused together in a way that doesn’t sound awful.  

            “Time Stamp” is the second full length from Annuals and it comes five years after they were dropped from a major label.  That seems like a tough blow, and I know that major labels can offer things you can’t get without their help, but at the same time, there are many bands feeling moderate success right now without the help of a label.   If a major label saw fit to sign this band one day, there must be something to them—there must be something about them.   And I do believe that they will find their audience again.   It’s only a matter of time and shameless self promotion. 

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