Our cd was named Best Baton Rouge Release of 2007 by 225 Magazine.
"Rob Mulhearn and the six other members can stuff a stage to capacity, but on Seven-Headed Monster careful arrangements and deep pop textures give the guitars, keys, violas and noise enough space to breathe. Like Camper Van Beethoven and Fleetwood Mac before them, Secret Annexe cuts a wide stylistic swath while still sounding like a cohesive unit." -- Alex V. Cook, 225 Magazine
When you hear the name Secret Annexe, what do you think? If you've heard their 2005 debut, What Is It About This Place?, you might picture a good-natured folk rock outfit playing straightforward pop tunes. So if you could hear them now, two years later, would you be flabbergasted, flummoxed, or otherwise nonplussed?
This seven piece wondertroupe has taken a tight hold of the creative reigns and produced their greatest work to date, Seven Headed Monster, out now on Ocelot Records. They holed up in frontman Rob Mulhearn’s suburban home for six months (stopping only to eat, sleep, work, take vacations, pursue other musical projects, garden, interview for jobs, play paintball, attend video game trade shows, go fishing, edit government documents, and make jewelry) and hammered away—playing every instrument within reach, building soaring vocal choruses, layering and stripping away and layering again, and generally experimenting in a way that the ticking studio clock would have otherwise prohibited.
The resulting eleven songs brim with a trembling energy and a keen sense of harmony. From the rough-hewn garage rock of “Look Out Below!” to the tender, dreamy flashback ballad “June 12, 1943,” Seven Headed Monster straddles disparate genres and transcends the stock set of rock and roll emotions. Between the covers, seven distinct personalities congeal into a strange, beautiful, and unpredictable portrait.
Secret Annexe was born when husband and wife Rob and Tammy Mulhearn moved home to Baton Rouge after a brief stay in Austin. Wanting to try out some new material, Rob gathered up some friends, both old and new, and before long, the band’s distinct sound emerged. Since then, the group has become a mainstay of the Baton Rouge music scene, and has started branching out regionally as well, sharing the stage with the likes of Maria Taylor, The Velvet Teen, Tilly and the Wall, Shannon Wright, Danielson, Jesse Sykes, Deadboy and the Elephantmen, Midlake, Colour Revolt, and many more.
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