They were often compared to bands like Manic Street Preachers, and Placebo, but also showed a few older influences such as Joy Division (they covered 'Transmission' as a b-side to one of their singles), Echo & the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs and Teardop Explodes.
The band consisted of Larry Lean (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chris Adams (lead guitar), David Hunter (bass) and Andrew Hastings (drums), and were included on a Melody Maker free CD with the urgent, passionate track 'Nothing's Real' in 1998.
After being signed to Richard Branson's new V2 label, their first single proper was the punchy, angular track 'Love This Life', which was followed by more traditional rock of 'Kiss the Day Goodbye', which the band performed live on (UK) Channel 4's 'TFI Friday'. Neither single set the charts on fire, but the band continued with 'The Other Way', which was another passionate, punky rock track, and followed it with 'Someday My Prince Will Come', with a swagger reminiscent of Suede.
The debut album, 'Twilight' showed a more complex collection of rock tracks, but interest in the band remained limited to a core collection of devoted fans, most of whom had discovered the band during support slots with artists like the Stereophonics, or the occasional festival appearance.
The next release was 'Love This Life' again, re-issued with different b-sides in 1999, but things fell silent soon after, and it can only be assumed that the band dissolved due to lack of interest.
The main problem for Annie Christian was that they were never considered 'cool', and were subsequently ignored by the music press for the majority of their career. Despite writing many moving, intelligent songs, they were not in step with the rest of the industry, and the alienation that they seemed to thrive on ultimately led to their demise.
IF YOU LIKE THESE, YOU'LL LIKE ANNIE CHRISTIAN: Manic Street Preachers, Joy Division, Mansun, Suede, Psychedelic Furs, Echo & the Bunnymen.