Ohio indie-emo vets Annabel recently released their first album in nine years, Worldviews, and now band leader Ben Hendricks has told us about nine albums that influenced the new comeback record. It ranges from the ’90s/early 2000s-era rock that Worldviews is most comparable to (The Wrens, The Sundays, The Promise Ring, Nirvana, Third Eye Blind) to some newer hyperpop-type stuff that you might not have guessed just from listening (Charli XCX, A.G. Cook, Jane Remover). Head below to see Ben’s full list and what he had to say about each pick.
Along with the list, we’re also premiering the new video for Worldviews highlight “Dog.” The song was partially inspired by the This Is Fine meme (the one with the dog in the burning house), and the video riffs on that meme too, while also mixing in footage of the band’s home-base Akron DIY venue It’s A Kling Thing!. Check it out below.
Annabel will support Worldviews on tour, including a NYC show on August 8 at the Windjammer in Ridgewood. All dates are listed below.
Read our review of Worldviews in Notable Releases and pick up a copy from Tiny Engines.
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9 ALBUMS THAT INFLUENCED ANNABEL’S WORLDVIEWS
by Ben Hendricks
The Wrens – Meadowlands
I bought a baritone guitar during the pandemic, and that really kickstarted a lot of my songwriting. There’s baritone guitar all over the Meadowlands and that really was the overall mood I was going for with some of the songs. Obviously, there are also some parallels here with a band going a long time between records so I looked to this record a lot while motivating myself to keep going and finish it.
Jane Remover – Frailty
This record restored my faith in the possibilities of music. It’s everything I want in a record, full of motifs, perfect sequencing, dramatic arcs, and great pop songs. I watched a three-hour Twitch stream of her breaking down the project files of every song, going through every sound, and hearing every detail was inspiring. I think she’s a genius. Considering the whole record was just an acoustic guitar and Fruity Loops plugins, it’s also a credit to just making something great regardless of the tools available. It definitely made me more confident in exploring more sound design possibilities.
Talons’ – Make America Again
Talons’ is a singer-songwriter from Akron making some of the most soul-crushing music you can imagine. This record came out during the first few months of the pandemic and was such a comforting record that encapsulated that experience so well. I’ve always admired how direct Mike’s lyrics are, and he really sums up the feeling of getting older in a dead-end rust belt town.
The Sundays – Reading, Writing And Arithmetic
Jangle is a part of our game, and The Sundays are the best to ever do it. I took over a lot more of the lead guitar duties on this record, so I was able to inflect even more of that jangle I love. Blind is probably my favorite Sundays record but I was listening to this one more during this era of writing.
Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind
This was the first album I ever got on CD back in the 6th grade. When I started playing guitar, I got the album guitar tab book but soon realized I was in way over my head with some of the tunings on these songs. During the pandemic, I found the tab book in my attic, dusted it off, and started learning all the songs. I’d like to think that all played a role in my overall approach. At any rate, these are the level of anthems I aspire to write.
A.G. Cook – 7G
This is probably my most listened-to album over the past five years, mostly because it’s 7 discs long. It’s full of experimental, electronic music, but the 2nd disc features a lot of guitar songs and kinda plays like an emo record if you let yourself imagine. I think A.G. has a really solid balance of weird and beautiful, and that’s why I love everything he does. There are also Blur and Smashing Pumpkins covers on here, which confirmed to me that this dude is “my shit”.
The Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good
Whenever I talk about influences, I feel like I’m disappointing people if I don’t talk about the quintessential emo records. We get compared to a lot of bands, some of them I’m probably not as into as I feel people want me to be. I was never the Promise Ring guy in the band, but something really clicked for me during this period, so I can officially say this is our most Promise Ring-influenced record. Also kind of a realization of like, “yeah, I guess this IS what we’ve been trying to do all along”.
Charli XCX – How I’m Feeling Now
Charli is having a moment now for sure, but I’m pretty confident in saying she’s been my favorite artist for the last decade. More than anything, as a music listener, I’m a student of melody, and I think Charli has the best understanding of melody of anyone of our time. Seeing her writing process play out online while this was going on (in quarantine) was also pretty crucial for me as I started writing music again. Anyway, basically, all I ask for in music is hooks and pretty textures, and Charli gives me what I want every time.
Nirvana – In Utero
Sometimes I go through phases where all I listen to is Nirvana. Steve Albini would probably hate our record, but a lot of the guitar tones were based on In Utero, especially the noisier, louder songs. Also things like adding cello in the softer songs. I always look to Kurt as a melodic and lyrical reference, and this time was no different. Fun fact: I got a detention in middle school for writing “Kurt is God” on my school building.
Annabel — 2024 Tour Dates
Aug 2 – Columbus, OH @ Rambling House
Aug 3 – Knoxville, TN @ Barley’s
Aug 4 – Asheville, NC @ Shakey’s
Aug 5 – Durham, NC @ Rubies on Five Points
Aug 6 – Washington, DC @ Quarry House Tavern
Aug 8 – Queens, NY @ The Windjammer
Aug 9 – Boston, MA @ Faces Brewery
Aug 10 – Pittsfield, MA @ Hot Plate Brewing