ANR Release Album “Stay Kids”
aaamusic | On 18, Mar 2011
ANR, the duo consisting of Brian Robertson and Michael-John Hancock, is excited to release their new album Stay Kids as a digital download TODAY via 10K Islands. The album is heavily influenced by the events of the past year, specifically those closest to their homes on the southern shores of Florida. These events include the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – both locations within a boat ride from ANR’s stomping ground of Miami. As a purely musical document, the album exists as an eclectic collection of psychedelic pop and rock songs from a duo with a pure love of a variety of musical styles and eras. The sonic influences of childhood heroes Brian Wilson, Prince and Keith Emerson meld seemlessly with the inspiration of the psychedelic warriors of today.
“The title track is amazing: ‘Stay Kids’ is a marvel of melodic majesty and cosmic funk… It features helium-high vocals, but something about them suggests not facetiousness but its benign cousin, playfulness, as though Frank Zappa’s mordant humour had been tempered by Brian Wilson’s knack for harmony.”
“That’s not what SXSW is all about. It’s discovering the next TVOTR [TV On The Radio]… ANR is that band. With so many boastful layers to each track it is hard to believe the Miami-based band is the creation of only two, but when a touch of trumpets perfectly accents‘It’s Around You’ you don’t really care how they made it, just as long as you get to sip your Lone Star and enjoy it.”
“Blistering rock pair and Miami dudes ANR (formally Awesome New Republic) have long been described a panoply of ways— from apocalyptic/psychedelic whirlwind bros to the new tropical bohemia—so, if it’s all the same to you, we’re just gonna declare these guys the sh*t and call it a day. ‘Don’t Fear The Get Out’ starts as woozy, backwater music before the stomping drums and ‘70s-style wails take this one from good to great.”
– RCRD LBL
“Sometimes you just gotta go so hard that whatever you do ends up sounding good based on conviction alone… ANR aren’t inventing the wheel, they’re just making solid songs like ‘Big Problem’ and sometimes that takes more balls than freaking out on some crazy experimental-for-experimental’s sake sh*t.”
– FADER
“ANR’s scholarly music background lends them a sonic flexibility that oscilates between the harmonious piano pop of ‘The Endless Field of Mercury’ to the punk-tinged one minute anthem ‘Kill South Beach Dead’… ANR might just be the band to put Miami music on the map.”
US/UK Tour Dates:
03/17 – Austin, TX @ The Ghost Room – BMI Showcase (SXSW)
03/18 – Austin, TX @ Cedar Door – Express Music Lounge (SXSW)
03/19 – Austin, TX @ Karibu – Karibu Party (SXSW)
03/31 – Miami, FL @ Bardot
04/01 – Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
04/03 – Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone
04/04 – Charlottesville, VA @ Twisted Tea Bazar
04/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ The M Room
04/06 – Brooklyn, NY@ Public Assembly
04/07 – New York, NY @ Tammany Hall (Neon Gold Popshop)
04/08 – Hartford, CT @Trinity College
04/09 – Montreal, QC @ Le Belmont
04/10 – Cambridge, MA @ MIT
04/16 – Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
04/18 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Nightlight
04/19 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits
04/20 – Tampa, FL @ Fly Bar
05/14 – Brighton, UK @ Great Escape Festival (Drowned In Sound Stage)
05/19 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms w/ Brother
05/23 – London, UK @ Heaven w/ Brother
05/27 – London, UK @ XFM Xposure Night
