A few months ago a friend dragged me to a small venue in Williamsburg to hear his favorite band from home—a young group from North Carolina called Annuals. Even though it was past 11 p.m. on a school night, the place was packed—in fact, we didn't make it five feet past the merch tables. Once their set started, I understood what all of the frenzy was about.

Made up of six friends from Raleigh (Adam Baker, Kenny Florence, Mike Robinson, Zack Oden, Donzel Radford and Anna Spence), Annuals put out their energetic debut album, Be He Me, well before anyone in the band was old enough to buy a beer. A lot of people compare their eclectic sound to Animal Collective (a band also made up of childhood friends) and Arcade Fire (a band also made up of boys and girls), a fact that they find both frustrating and flattering at the same time.

Tomorrow marks the release of Such Fun, their long-awaited sophomore album, complete with a Bob Ross-designed cover. Recorded throughout their home state, most of the tracks focus on the birds and the bees—both literally and figuratively—and shine with a polish that was missing in their earlier work. Annuals will be playing the new material on tour with Seattle's Minus the Bear this fall; below check out Gen Art's exclusive sneak peek of the first single, "Confessor," along with brief interview with the band.



- Caroline Stanley

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