Review Summary: Further developments in the primordial soup
Animal Collective is in quite the odd spot. Ever since releasing their commercial and critical magnum opus
Merriweather Post Pavilion in 2009, the band has fallen out of favor with many listeners. Both 2012’s
Centipede Hz and last year’s
Painting With received overwhelmingly mixed reviews, with many fans lamenting what they saw as a continuous decline into a more direct and abrasive style of music that lacked the band’s signature experimentation and adventure. This latest EP (a companion piece to
Painting With) does little to alter AnCo’s sonic trajectory, though it does more than enough to help spice up the formula.
Lead single “Kinda Bonkers” is a suitably wacky opening track that calls to mind the Animal Collective of old through a smooth blend of muted tribal drums and a looping, chanted chorus. The song’s peace-and-love refrain, though cheesy, is redeemed by the peculiar verses which see Avey Tare comparing his life to French toast that gets “black and weak” over time. Other subtle moments, (such as the stunted way that Tare enunciates “bonkers” on the refrain) help to add character to the song and make it all the more interesting.
The Painters’ other standout is the final track, “Jimmy Mack.” Similar in spirit to “Golden Gal,” this cover of the 1967 Martha & The Vandellas hit sees the band continue to glean inspiration from retro sources. The song tackles the original verses in somewhat standard fashion before exploding into euphoric madness during the chorus. Over bubbling electronic bursts, Tare hysterically pleads for the return of his titular lover, yelling out “I need your lovin’, Jimmy!” as he reaches peak desperation. The whole thing is insanely comical, and it’s very refreshing to be re-introduced to the wild, unhinged version of Tare that was largely absent during the band’s last album.
Despite these two fantastic tracks, the other songs here come off a little bland. This is partially due to the track placement- they’re sandwiched in-between two career bests- but mostly due to the fact that they rely so heavily on overused motifs from
Painting With. “Goalkeeper” is an unfocused electronic romp that aims for the giddy thrill of “The Burglars” but lands somewhere closer to the formulaic tedium of “Summing the Wretch.” Yet the worst offender is clearly “Peacemaker”- a total snooze-fest that almost solely consists of the Avery Tare / Panda Bear “echo” effect that had already become a tired cliche by this time last year. While all these tracks are from the
Painting With sessions, “Peacemaker” is the only one that truly feels like an album reject best suited for the cutting room floor.
In short,
The Painters will likely do little to change any minds on Animal Collective. For fans of their post-
Merriweather evolution, these tracks will be appreciated as a looser, more spastic expansion of a familiar style. For
Feels-loving purists, however, this collection will likely be met with scorn, along with the regretful acceptance that the band will never return to the sound of their glory days. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed
Painting With (along with their earlier work), I can definitely understand where both factions are coming from.
If anything, it’s clear that Animal Collective never stay in one place for too long. As much as some would believe that the band has sold out in favor of simplistic pop songs, this EP proves that they are still willing to dabble in the new and undiscovered. The best we can do is move forward with them. If the highlights from
The Painters are anything to go by, we’re still in good hands.
