The Pelican’s Perch

“Bummer Dude! You have introduced me to a whole new world of music. My life is richer because of your love for tunes. Thank you and all the best on your future ventures”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
wait is it an april fools!?!?! kevin you are such a jerk”

“if this is real then i’m pretty much gutted and if you’re joking then you’re sickkkkk Kevin, really sick.”

Oh kids. It was about half and half as far as readers realizing what yesterday was compared to those who had no idea and flipped out at the idea of the Perch disappearing. It was actually pretty surprising some of the comments and emails I received, and it’s good to know the lengths some of you would go to get the Perch back on the net. Some of you almost made me feel bad for my little April Fool’s joke. But alas, it wasn’t real. My brilliant plan was done by at least three blogs that I could find, so I was for sure some of you would stumble upon those blogs.

But let’s get back to the music shall we! It’s been too long. Today, we’ve got new music from Annuals. Their Wet Zoo EP. I can’t decide what I like more about this EP. The fact that it’s new music from Annuals and it’s all great, or the fact that we now have something else to be very excited about this year…Sunfold. I was browsing Annuals myspace the other day and was listening to the bands in their top friends (it’s a surprisingly good way to find new music), and stumbled upon Sunfold. A few minutes later I learned that it was actually an Annuals side project featuring songs written by their guitarist, Kenny Florence. It’s different, but in a good way. I’d describe it as Annuals meets Manchester Orchestra meets the technical guitar work of American Football/Owen (on “Oregon” at least). Kenny has a different songwriting style than Adam, but I’m loving both styles and can’t wait to be listening to both albums here in the fall.

The new Annuals songs are great like I said above. Nothing mind-blowing, but “Sore” is the clear stand-out, following the mold set by “Brother” as the gentle verse explodes into a string-filled chorus. It’s not quite as epic as “Brother”, but it’s right up there. At five songs, this new EP is painfully short, but what EP isn’t. While I’ll still be listening to this EP for quite a while, it’s both bands upcoming full-lengths that I’m in eager anticipation for. If I wasn’t so amped for Summer to get here, I’d say I couldn’t wait for fall to arrive so I could be listening to these albums already. But after such a crappy winter, I can wait a good three months in the Sun for a new Annuals album to come out. Now, where’d I put my swim suit?

Annuals – Sore

Sunfold – Between the Worlds / Oregon

Official Annuals Site / Annuals Myspace

P.S. While I’d like to give Youtube the award for best April Fool’s joke, Rick-Rolling millions of Youtubers, I think this year’s award goes to the guys in Death Cab for Cutie. All kinds of kids found their heart skipping a beat to see the new Death Cab album had leaked, and I was no different, but after one listen through, I just sat in silence thinking this new direction I’d heard they went with for this new album, well, was terrible. A new, more experimental, ambient direction that would alienate fans and make others love them. But alas, thanks to wikipedia, my fears were proven to be pure gullibility and the new Death Cab isn’t a dark, ambient affair after all.  It was really Velveteen’s new album.  I still can’t say it’ll be great yet or not, but I’ll let you know the minute I get the actual album.

Velveteen (not Death Cab) – The Drummer Goes Berserk