Branches by Antlerand

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Modern Rock | with Live-band Production

11 tracks | 55 minutes

Released Mar 2006
on Sound Family Records

Click for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.

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sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:32 Rows of Unbending Lines lyrics BUY MP3 05:32 Rows of Unbending Lines lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:32 Rows of Unbending Lines

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:30 Now It's a Year lyrics BUY MP3 03:30 Now It's a Year lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:30 Now It's a Year

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:11 Brighter Rays lyrics BUY MP3 05:11 Brighter Rays lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:11 Brighter Rays

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:00 Maybe We're Still Running lyrics BUY MP3 04:00 Maybe We're Still Running lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:00 Maybe We're Still Running

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:19 We Know Better lyrics BUY MP3 02:19 We Know Better lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:19 We Know Better

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:41 Not the Next Anything lyrics BUY MP3 05:41 Not the Next Anything lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:41 Not the Next Anything

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:48 On Their Screen lyrics BUY MP3 05:48 On Their Screen lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:48 On Their Screen

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 01:44 I Love You Like Forgetting lyrics BUY MP3 01:44 I Love You Like Forgetting lyrics "GIFT MP3" 01:44 I Love You Like Forgetting

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:54 Make Nothing Happen lyrics BUY MP3 04:54 Make Nothing Happen lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:54 Make Nothing Happen

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:15 Far Too Clean lyrics BUY MP3 03:15 Far Too Clean lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:15 Far Too Clean

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 13:20 Three lyrics BUY MP3 13:20 Three lyrics "GIFT MP3" 13:20 Three

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Antlerand is a rock band at heart with a pop sentiment and symphonic sensibility.

Editorial review

Branches, the first full-length album by Portland, OR's Antlerand (formerly known as Invisible), is certainly a musically ambitious project. Besides the three main bandmembers, each of whom plays an assortment of instruments, they also add a variety of guest artists -- including a violinist, a trumpet player, and a female singer -- to their blend of indie pop/rock. Antlerand approach their songs almost with the mindset of a jam band, or even a jazz combo, using introductions that lead into nearly unrelated verses and choruses and back into introductions, adding or taking away layers the entire time, meandering about with a kind of improvisational structure. The problem is, it almost becomes too much. They have neither the intensity of a jam band nor the musicianship of a jazz combo to completely pull it off, and Branches tends to drag on because of it. Their chord changes, the movement from the A section to the B to the A, even the endings -- all become predictable. Every song has <i>so</i> many layers and tries to do <i>so</i> many things that it can border on ridiculous. There's so much going on that it makes the music almost seem forced. Luckily, the one thing that pulls the album together and keeps it from spiraling into some uncharted indie-improv territory is the work of drummer Delaney Kelly. Even when the rest of the band gets stuck in a simple riff, Kelly pushes them forward, challenging them to do more, to think bigger (play sixteenth notes for God's sake!), but to stay controlled and composed at the same time. It's impressive work, and because of him, Antlerand are occasionally able to find that point where their musical desires mesh with feasibility, and sound good. "Maybe We're Still Running" brings marimbas, synths, and a quick jungle beat, among many other things, into one coherent, interesting song, and in "Make Nothing Happen," which finds singer Chris Larson -- who sounds vaguely like Stephen Malkmus -- playing the introspective indie rocker ("Oh Atlantic, won't you carry me?/Just wash me to your shore, with your westerlies"), everything comes together really well. Antlerand have a lot of good ideas, but their execution is just a little off. If they worry less about doing so much while still keeping their groove and style, their next record might just make it where Branches couldn't. ~ Marisa Brown, All Music Guide

Bio / Background

Antlerand began in late 2002 as a long-distance collaboration between Chris Larson (Portland) and Zach Okun (Phoenix). Zach had been in school perfecting the finer points of audio recording while Chris had been experimenting with integrating projected visuals in live performance. After losing his job, Chris took the opportunity (and his first unemployment check) and flew to Phoenix to record with Zach what would become The Invisible EP. Knowing that long-distance relationships rarely work-out, Chris popped the question; Zach said yes, packed up his stuff and moved to Portland. Shortly thereafter, Chris wooed drummer Delaney Kelly, and Antlerand was born.

The resulting music was hard to pin down, and reviewers began rattling off "sounds likes" quicker than an auctioneer. The varied comparisons, while flattering, do little to define the band's sound (If Antlerand were a planet, it would have a rocky core, a poppy crust and a symphonic atmosphere).