An Angle

At the heart of An Angle stands youthful Sacramento songwriter Kris Anaya, who assembled friends from nearby groups to capture the project's first effort, And Take It With a Grain of Salt. Issued on his personal label in 2002, the set surfaced as a sprawling indie pop hit that blended relaxed folk and emo accents while nodding toward figures ranging from Bright Eyes to the Pogues. Drive-Thru soon acquired the recording and issued a re-release in November 2004. A subsequent trek alongside the label's Steel Train followed, after which An Angle headed back into the studio. May 2005 brought We Can Breathe Under Alcohol on Drive-Thru, again drawing on a shifting roster of players and instruments while retaining the same instinctive pop approach. The group mounted a spring-and-summer outing to promote it, then delivered its third album, The Truth Is That You Are Alive, two years afterward.