Chasing Lions

Annuals and Sunfold: Wet Zoo split EP

Several days ago I had a conversation with a friend over whether or not split EPs are effective in promoting both artists. I argued that I tend to listen to one artist and ignore the other. My friend responded with, “but split EPs are a great way to share costs between two artists.”

This morning while checking my mail I found a package for the new Annuals and Sunfold split EP called Wet Zoo. While I normally am distracted by two bands on one album, I found myself intrigued by Wet Zoo, in part because I appreciated Annuals’ debut, Be He Me.

What really grabbed me about this split EP was that Annuals and Sunfold are the same band, plus and minus an artist; Nick Radford of Annuals is replaced by Donzel Redford in Sunfold. Another distinction between the two bands is that Kenny Florence of Annuals writes the songs for Sunfold and Adam Baker writes for Annuals, a brilliant way to avoid a Simon and Garfunkel melt down.

Annuals take the first three tracks, and they are quite honestly some of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard so far this year. Wet Zoo is rich with a string section and wisely uses reversed reverberation in attractive ways. The remaining two tracks are by Sunfold, are a bit more stripped down rock songs, but just as sensibly engineered. So I’m forced to eat my words after listening to Wet Zoo: split EPs can be effective.

Annuals and Sunfold - Wet Zoo tracklisting:
01 Sore (Annuals)
02 Around Your Neck (Annuals)
03 Just Stay In (Annuals)
04 Between the Worlds (Sunfold)
05 Watering Pail (Sunfold)

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