Annuals are a six-piece from North Carolina that play sprawling and perfectly poppy indie rock. They recently signed to Ace Fu Records (Pinback, Man Man) and should fit right at home with their current roster of odd rock.

Adam Baker vocals sound similar to the tenor of Superchunk's Mac McCaughan, who is also from that fine land of Jordan. But they've most often been compared to Arcade Fire for their epic and imaginative instrumentation. And I hear a lot of The Unicorns/Islands in there too. There are tons of strings, keys and percussion going on here. Music like this tends to be messy, but Annuals are tight. No matter how far they stray, they never lose sight of their strong melodies. This is optimistic stuff. Annuals will have none of The Knife's doom and gloom.

Annuals play Sin-e, Thursday, September 14th, and Northsix, Friday, September 15th.