Animo just got a nice little bump on RollingStone.com about it's, ahem, swelling buzz on this year's Warped Tour. Evidently, the band is turning heads a plenty. About damn time. God knows the act, formerly known as Dork, has certainly paid its dues. If we're not mistaken, this summer marks the outfit's fifth stint on Kevin Lyman's annual punk rock caravan (counting its ground-breaking, time-capsule-inclusion-worthy feat in 2003 of finagling its way onto the tour as a no name band). Not to mention, the guys have gone through three singers, barely losing any momentum in the process.
Last year, after the various lineup changes, which included Schuyler Ankele taking over frontman duties, the Dork moniker was retired, and the band reinvented itself as Animo. Blood in the Water, its new album, contains few traces of the goofy pop punk purveyed by its predecessor. But while the music is decidedly better than past efforts, apparently, it’s the beefcake factor of Brian Johannsen and Jimmy Blair (pictured above, far left and far right) that’s making all the ladies swoon. Nice to know that hard work still pays off these days. – Dave Herrera
