Everyone wants a piece of Brit-pop these days: the synthesizers, the style, the intonation, some even so much as to call their band Manchester Orchestra when they’re from Atlanta Georgia. At the Embassy of Brit-pop in Toronto – The Mod Club, hosted Manchester Orchestra and the Annuals for some of us Song 2 lovers this weekend. (For those of you who don’t know the tradition: every Saturday after the Mod Club bands play, the night doesn’t begin until Blur’s Song 2 plays.)

My 2 cents on Manchester – really like them – melancholic trance, wistful – they sound more like the West Coast of America than the UK.
(Jess notes that MO nailed the last 3 songs by bringing the house down to a dead silience, while throughout the set there was constant chatter. How you ask? "Where Have You Been?" is all I need to stay. Poignant and beautiful, even more so than on the recording)

The Annuals are a childhood band from the quiet capitol of North Carolina. As the pot lights went up and they began to play, I was noticing their standard indie band uniform: monotone vest & shirt, T-shirt, facial hair, front woman in a classic dress.

Their sound was a layered and sprawling mix of classic folk and modern electronic garage. They had a bit of Paul Simon flavour in there with The Bravery, a few Beatles and a hint of Honkey Tonk at times. Their young leading lad ranged from high note melodies to impassioned wails, his voice whole and pure with no modulation or inflection. The Annuals were a rolling pattern of random sounds that whirled into guitar explosions, which started to level them out. What stood out the most for them were their slower songs and more powerful mantra of a four-drum interlude. They are appropriately titled Annuals, over Perennials.

Witnessed once again by Jenn & Jess
Up Next...Juliette and The Licks!