All Inquiries:  askANR@gmail.com

Label SUTRO
Lauren RESKIN: lolo@sweatrecordsmiami.com
www.sutromusic.com

On May 20th, the ANR power duo as we know it will perform for the last time. Its been one heck of time playing this keys and drums kind of rock and roll music, and the experience has been made all the more worthwhile with your support and enthusiasm at our shows. B-Rob and I don't wanna ritually sacrifice each other to the spirit of a younger Tom Hanks in front of a volcano. We just aren't keen on the same living regions, so there will still be musical energies passed back and forth. ANR's not dead. Miami is still the kingdom of the future and there's plenty of awesome new public action to transpire from now forward. Oh, and shout outs to all the other local acts doing it real and raw. Peace in the Middle East, John Hancock ANR 

Make way for the ANR: two dudes, four synths, one drumkit, 15 hott new classics. AWESOME NEW REPUBLIC, Miami's progressive R&B post-crunk musical force-to-be-reckoned-with, unleash their refurbished monster.
In recent months Awesome New Republic, affectionately known by its many admirers as ANR, has been gigging all over the place, from Wynwood District warehouses and Churchill's Pub to unnamed spots across the Southeast. What is it about this band, who combines your favorite sounds -- crazy skronk-jazz, weird IDM electro, and a dash of New Wave soul -- into an unpredictable yet danceable stew, that is making all the smart kids scream? Part of its charm is lead vocalist Michael John Hancock, whose sweet falsetto adds necessary context to the band's rough, start-stop undulations and time changes. Plus, it's difficult not to like a band who lists Japanese cult director Takashi Miike as a primary artistic influence on its MySpace band page. 

Check the gorgeous, radio-ready electro-pop of Wheels, No Engine from ANR So Far: Influential L.A. DJ Nic Harcourt has spun the album epic first single on his Morning Becomes Eclectic radio show and BBC Radio 1. Here, Hancock's voice is at once tender, powerful, and immediate, his harmony with Robertson's swooning keys rendering an unforgettable classic. Then flip on Japanese Subtitles from All Party Talks, the bands translucent blue vinyl-only EP. The songs Steely Dan-on-Afro-IDM glitch-funk is the twisted result of some 160 digital tracks braided into a tense, delicate ballad. Both tracks and both releases swell with the volatile creativity and wide-eyed ambition of truly visionary music.

Now, here's what drummer Michael-John Hancock has to say about the Awesome New Republic:

We make soul music. We make folk music. We make World music and American music. We choose rhythms that will temper the body and soothe the forehead. We choose synth pads that will nourish the heart and vitalize the reproductive system. Do you believe in the future? We are the future. Not just the two of us, of course, but anyone who chooses to make a positive imprint on what the planet is headed towards. Make way for your own awesome new public display of effection. Check the other box in the next election.

In September 2005 Awesome New Republic released "All Party Talks," a limited edition 12 EP of 4 brand new tracks... and in October they released "ANR So Far," a proper CD release containing the majority of their two self-released albums. Within two weeks of its release, "ANR so Far" entered the CMJ 200 Charts at #178. Not bad for a self-recorded album on a start-up DIY label, SUTRO, all right here in Miami.

Secondary Genre: Avant-garde John Hancock ANR and Brian Robertson and (in the past)=Erica Varner, Bob LaDue, Paul Roth, Rob Katz, Russ Kleiner, Matt Dingledine, Noah Penn, Aaron Mitter, Kristi, Colin, Reeve, and Vas

The power-duo of John Hancock ANR and B Rob E Robertson have been moving hundreds of copies of their two hand-made albums, 2004's WITNESS NOW THE BIRTH OF AN AWESOME NEW REPUBLIC and 2005's COURAGEOUS!, out of the trunks of their bikes to the glee of Miamians everywhere. Finally, this smooth compact disc compiles the majority of both, remixed and remastered for your listening pleasure.

Highlights include: WHEELS NO ENGINES - an everyday love song-cum-momentous-cycling-for-sex metaphor that Lance Armstrong might have used to woo Ms. Crow; 2K3012 - their biggest indie dancefloor hit and a 305 fan-favorite, so often-requested that the band themselves are like, totally over it; SNEEKY - equal parts Big Gipp shromp and Mr. Bungle melodic assault; KILL SOUTH BEACH DEAD - repping the frustration of often back-asswards MIA to the fullest; THE CLAP - an epic love ballad that will have you rubbing up against the nearest warm human body and/or domestic creature; FEARSOME FATHER - imagine the baby Aphex Twin's "On" and the Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime" never had; and oh so much more.

You get sensuous subtropical slow jams, gritty, speedy punk tracks, truly progressive indie rock, experimental hip-hop and no-wave dancefloor hits all on one CD! So tight, people think they've been around for ages. So fresh, people are saying "Are they really local?? " Hear what South Florida really has to offer, so far.

Packaged in a spiffy digipak with insert featuring the original hand-made artwork, and a previously unreleased hidden track. This is also the second release on SUTRO, a new label based out of Miami's best (and only) indie music store, Sweat Records.