New quintet Annie is going to cause quite a stir if they stay at it. They have a great sense of art, unusual song phrasing, and a creative, mood-inducing sound. The CD is intense, as well as lovely, and relaxing.
I had thoughts of the Velvet Underground as I listened to the opening few guitar chords of the first song, "Means to an End," being lightly strummed, but as soon as Stephen Nichols began singing, the Radiohead comparison became inevitable. He has the same laid back vocal style of the popular English band, and the music moving beneath the vocals is smart and talent-laden. The guitars of Nichols and Jeff Wickes, along with Patrick McNeely on bass, David Morton at the drums, and Joel Bordeaux on keyboards and trumpet, have found a consistently sophisticated balance of Radiohead, Velvet Underground, Starflyer 59, which is lightly salted with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. They call themselves and their music "psychedelic pop/rock." I agree. They are a noise/pop/lounge band of promise.
Annie's lyrics are free flying, free flowing verse, which threw me at first. I was scratching my head on the first listen until about the third song when the perplexing abstruse poetry began to make sense. I returned to the first couple of songs and they began to make sense as well. The stories, although enigmatic, betray a love for the Lord, a longing for a relationship with the Savior, and an appreciation for his good gifts.
Annie and producer Matt Goldman have recorded an impressive work. The six songs that make up Sci-fi Canon Blue(s) are a mix of polish, potential, and placid pandemonium, making this CD worth the effort you may have to go through to find it.
4 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #78Reviewed by Val SuttonIt's hard not to think of that annoying "Tomorrow" song when you hear the name "Annie," but the futuristic rock on the debut album from a band called Annie replaced all my memories of oversung showtunes. Balancing an overall Radiohead feel with Beatlesque melodies and a distinctive lounge lizard style, Annie is soon to become a band you won't want to get out of your head - much less take out of…Bandoppler 1999Reviewed by Sucré MusiqueOh, what Beatles-y cleverness we find in the band known as Annie. For an audience approaching the new millennium with lightning speed, Annie's album sci-fi canon blue(s) is a reminder of the genius that Ringo, Paul, George and John fed to the masses back in the 1960's. With vocals that are quite uncanny in similarity to the aforementioned Lennon, there's a familiarity there already, even from the…Similar sounding releases
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