Five years ago, Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards seemed poised to take over the rock world as their band, Failure, was earning accolades for their recorded output as well as for their live presence. Shortly after "Stuck on You" from their 'Fantastic Planet' album became a minor hit on college radio, Edwards and Andrews parted company, and Failure was no more.
Little has been heard from either since, though not for their lack of trying. Edwards is one-third of Autolux, who are gathering a loyal following. Andrews, on the other hand, has continued engineering and producing, even completing a polar opposite mostly electronic sound for On, his solo debut. After one record, On parted from Sony, and now Andrews has regrouped and formed Year of the Rabbit. It's not Failure, but if you miss that signature sound, nothing's gonna come closer than this band. Andrews is back to guitar-based rock again, releasing this four-song EP through their website as they prepare a full album for release next year. Two of these songs will reportedly be on that release, so this is more a taste for people to try them on and for fans of the recent live shows (you can even order the CD with a t-shirt). The songs certainly whet the appetite. "Hunted" is a slow churner with soaring choruses, where "Rabbit Hole" is a colorful rocker with treated vocals and thudding bass. Andrews sounds like he's having the most fun he's had in years, and the band is as tight as any he's been in. For fun, they even treat us to an accomplished cover of the Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored". It's a great hint of what's to come, and hopefully a new label will realize what they have and promote it right. Lightning rarely strikes twice, but this may be Andrews' second chance at widespread acclaim.
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