Annabel - Each And Everyone

Annabel
Each And Every­one
Count Your Lucky Stars; 2009

It’s good to know that there are bands on the mar­ket that are ready, will­ing, and able to grow up when the time calls. When I first came across the delec­table indie-​pop tones of Kent, Ohio-​based Annabel, I remarked that, while I appre­ci­ated the band’s capa­ble pop acu­men, I won­dered where and how this trio could deepen and fur­ther its sound. The Now That We’re Alive EP was com­prised of five bit­ter­sweet tracks in the Wolf Parade and Death Cab for Cutie vein, and while there’s noth­ing wrong with such a sound (in prin­ci­ple), I am glad to hear the band’s pro­gres­sion and devel­op­ment all over Each And Every­one.

This is still decid­edly pop of the breezy, jan­gly, indie-​friendly vari­ety, includ­ing three tracks updated from the afore­men­tioned EP from 2008, but the band has taken on a voice of its own, while still tip­ping its hand in terms of influ­ences. The vocals of Ben Hen­dricks still take cen­ter stage on each song, and what makes them so mem­o­rable is that, while they are still pen­sive and self-​aware in their lyri­cal rumi­na­tions (Ex. “All I ever need is what every­one needs /​A shoul­der to rest on and a heart to beat” from “Widow Party), there is a strength and vol­ume present that sweeps away any pre­tense of cheese or cliché. It’s as if the band real­ized that there was no need to make any attempts to approach an Arcade Fire level of grandeur (or melo­drama – take your pick) and decided to instead opt for the majesty of late ‘90s Mid­west­ern emo.

Where Annabel wins its biggest vote of con­fi­dence from me is when it inten­tion­ally veers hard away from the cutesy, boppy, trendy pop of Bishop Allen and Annu­als. Sure, the music is pow­ered by a fun, bouncy sen­si­bil­ity, but this group is most assuredly not a hip, pre­ten­tious, “We’re-from-Brooklyn,” trust-​fund indie act.

How­ever, if I were to be com­pletely trans­par­ent, I would express my reser­va­tions that there are instances where the band comes across as a bit too “it,” a bit too “now.” These feel­ings get me to won­der­ing whether or not these songs would sound imme­di­ately dated if the scene decided to shift direc­tions in the next few months and years.

But in the end, Annabel’s energy and over­all musi­cian­ship allays those con­cerns. Songs like “Peo­ple And Places,” “Bou­quet Mines,” and “Parade Rest” make Each And Every­one a great, top-​down, road-​trip-​ready record, packed to the gills with a dri­ving tunes and a sunny dis­po­si­tion. Fans of con­tem­po­rary indie-​pop will (or should) be quite pleased with this record.