Au (pronounced 'ay you') is the latest band to cause a ruckus. Multi-instrumentalist, Luke Wyland is the mastermind behind the band Au. He started the band in Portland, OR shortly after graduating with a degree from the Massachusetts College of Art. Wyland is the core of the group with a changing roster of other performers. You have to undeniably give Wyland credit for originality because every song is completely different then the last. As a listener, you persist with anticipation awaiting the next sound exposed.
Some of their songs are chipper, like "RR vs. D." This song bellows a childhood carnival ride, and others mumble empty and spacious guitar riffs like "Sleep." This would be the song I would have playing if I ever slit my wrists (this is a joke, don't go slit your wrists kiddies) while looking in the mirror saying "I'm going to kill myself tomorrow" (great Royal Tennenbaums scene with Elliott Smith's "Needle In the Hay" playing). And their song "Are Animals" sounds most conformable to Animal Collective with the use of peculiar clapping sounds and tribal whooping. Their album Verbs, which includes the following MP3's, is to be released June 24, 2008 on Aagoo Records but you can get it now at emusic.
MP3: Au - RR vs. D.mp3
MP3: Au - Are Animals.mp3
TOUR DATES in CA:
05-27 The Che w/ Parenthetical Girls and Pwrfl Power - San Diego, CA
05-28 The Smell w/ Abe Vigoda, Parenthetical Girls and Pwrfl Power - Los Angeles, CA
