ANR

Sometimes you just gotta go so hard that whatever you do ends up sounding good based on conviction alone. Look at Lil B. That dude believes in himself on such a heavy level that it’s hard to feel any different. Wayne did it too. Just kept calling himself the best rapper alive until everyone else agreed with him. ANR are by no means saying anything close to that, but there’s a heavy level of conviction in their music. The same way TV on the Radio (of which ANR share some sonic similarities) put out the Young Liars EP and everyone was like, Whoa what is going on here? And they were like, OH YOU AREN’T ALSO MAKING ACAPELLA BARBERSHOP SHOEGAZE? But again, 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 shit.
- FADER

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 shit 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. Check them out on tour with Washed Out to hear previews of their upcoming effort on 10K Islands, and snap up news and wares here. - RCRD LBL

ANR is the project formerly known as Awesome New Republic, first celebrated here via an Artist To Watch post on the solo works of the duo’s John Hancock. Before long John had taken back his first name (Michael) and his old Awesome New Republic mate (Brian Robertson) to reunite the band. Later they’d drop a lot of letters from their name in favor of the acronym ANR and be atypically prolific, releasing an album or two a year. And later still, they’d make a 12-minute slasher film with the help of Miami’s Borscht group and director Lucas Leyva. That slasher film is mostly here, soundtracked by their single “Big Problem,” with some small bits of dialogue removed in order to function as a proper music video. video, for their new album Stay Kids‘ stand out (and outstanding) “Big Problem.” The track comes from their new album Stay Kids. It’s a proper new wave earworm with a lot of forward thrust, relatively restrained and stylistically focused for the pair of University of Miami music school experimentalists, aside from the eerie b-movie synth intro that ties it to that grand slasher film tradition. The full film hints at ecological issues in their native Florida (“Big Problem”‘s initials are a covert reference to BP and the Gulf oil spill), but this video is mostly about poisoned weed, MJ Hancock foaming at the mouth, Brian Robertson gashing up a copulating couple, and lots of NSFW asides. Enjoy it. - Stereogum

"It's Around You," the latest single from Miami pop duo ANR, has a relaxed, groovy sound, but it's actually inspired by chaos. "This started out real simple, with just the vocal loop and thoughts of how it's been six years since a major hurricane hit south Florida," says singer and drummer Michael-John Hanock. "The idea of the song, and the chorus in particular, is to sonically and even lyrically connect with the traditional halftime modern R&B crowd, participation song style, but to have the actual concept of the song relating to evacuation procedures during a natural disaster. The chorus is telling people how to use their hands, feet, and voices to signal a helicopter from the roof of a house or building. What's 'around you' in this case is water and debris." - RollingStone

They have the worst name since Ninja High School. They recorded half of this album in a bedroom. And they appropriate dance and pop music like smarmy indie kids, grabbing whatever they want and singing in a crooning falsetto lyrics that barely take themselves seriously. Every warning light went off when I started listening to Awesome New Republic, and yet I can't stop playing the album, which not only lives up to its own jokes and conceits but delivers some of contemporary indie rock's best neurotic party tracks.

A one-time quintet now pared down to two guys, Miami-based ANR build most of their songs on Brian Robertson's keys and drum machines and Michael-John Hancock's vocals. They're an indie rock band at heart, but my bloglish isn't deep enough to categorize everything they're doing, from electro and funk, to the freak folk-nodding sparse harp and acoustic guitar on "Dirge". And "Kill South Beach Dead" is a punk anthem sung by grown-ups, and probably closer to how these guys sounded when they were pissed-off Miami teens: "Roll deep and kill South Beach dead/ Drop out of magnet school/ Sign up for special ed."

The lyrics are smarmy jokes just barely pulled off. Sensitive slow dance song "Going Down" turns out to be about blow jobs-- "My eyes may dart around the room/ But I just want to fill your mouth"-- and it namechecks Barack Obama, just because it feels so right. But sometimes the juxtaposition of crass and serious lyrics come off as nigh-brilliant, or at least brilliantly uncomfortable, like when Hancock's admiring the c-section scar on his married lover and tells her it gave him "an erection about near the strength of my arm."

I don't know where Hancock's coming from as a singer. Are his bouts of comic crudeness supposed to undercut the smooth crooning sex machine persona that he sometimes adopts? Or is it just random? He has the pipes to carry these songs, even if sometimes you can still hear a drunk indie kid who took a bet to sing "Cry Me a River" at a karaoke night, and realized he could pull it off. Right now, he's something like a Har Mar Superstar with ideas, perspective, and a brain, but he could probably take more lessons from Bryan Ferry.

But musically, ANR So Far is fully formed and totally enjoyable, pulling off every lurch from genre to genre. It's loaded with great moments, from "Going Down"'s sentimental keyboard line to the way the horns erupt like a flock of birds in the pre-coital bliss of "The Clap". I'm a sucker for a record where you can hear the band throw a hundred random ideas into a pile and watch every one fall into place. To paraphrase their song, this debut comes from magnet school and special ed, but they strike the right balance between the two. - Pitchfork Media

One of the songs of the year from one of the most loved (and blogged about) video directors of the year. Quite a pairing. Jamie Harley effortlessly turns an American beauty pageant into a heart-rate inducing tour de force of pastel shades and soft focus, slo-mo archive footage. If you don’t feel a tingle in the pit of your stomach by the time the three minutes are over, you’re most likely dead inside. Keep an eye out for ANR (or Awesome New Republic), certainly the best thing to come out of Miami since Gloria Estefan. - The Line Of Best Fit

Miami synth-rock/electro-pop act Awesome New Republic seems to have just the right amount of pop amazingness without sounding trite (think the electronic bits and driving beats of Miike Snow blended with the psychedelic sweetness of Passion Pit). - MTV

Interview with McGregor for SUP - 'SUP Magazine

Video: Awesome New Republic – “The Endless Field of Mercury”
Jul 16, 2010

The ghosting effect in this new video clip for Awesome New Republic‘s newest song (set to be released along with all new material on the album album Stay Kids, which is coming out this fall on 10,000 Islands /Honor Roll Music) speaks insanely well to the visual components of the clip provided here, which finds contestants of a 1970s beauty pageant of some kind all sorts of gleeful and surprised, even if the song is really set in the mood and spirit of a eulogy. Brian, Michael John and Jorge seem to be really quite great at making soaring, building, perfectly morose sequences of perfectly gloomy pop music. It’s conditionally emotional, sure, but it certainly stays with you for as long as you’ll let it.

Godspeed! - The Culture Of Me