Animal Collective
Feels


4.5
superb

Review

by praise jimmy EMERITUS
March 7th, 2017 | 139 replies


Release Date: 2005 | Tracklist

Review Summary: She said, we'll all feel. All together.

Moving onward from acid-drenched psychedelic folk freak outs, Animal Collective found itself doing something truly weird – making the closest thing to what could be considered “pop” music. Sure, the Avey Tare/Panda Bear debut Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished had elements that could vaguely resemble a pop aesthetic covered in murky, spastic bursts of noise, but other records such as the vastly underappreciated Danse Manatee, the frightening live experience of Hollindagain or the yin/yang twins Campfire Songs and Here Comes the Indian all displayed a revolving lineup with varying styles that made each and every succeeding album different from one another. 2004’s Sung Tongs already signaled a departure from the eclectic sounds of prior albums with its tendencies toward warm, tribal acoustic moods and blissfully ethereal harmonies by the band; yet with its successor Feels, Animal Collective eschewed acoustics in favor of more electronic and upbeat vibes that wasn’t all too present in the AnCo canon up until this point.

Feels is weird not only when considering what came before it, but for its increasingly odd song structures and lyrical content. Sure, there’s been moments like the anti-Be True to Your School vignette “College” and practically all of Hollindagain, but Feels truly takes the bizarre in AnCo’s music up another notch with moments such as the first verse of opener “Have You Seen The Words” (“Your poor intestines can't deny when the inky periods drip from your mailbox”, etc.) and the oft-repeated lyric in “Bees” that goes on and on for a couple of minutes as Avey’s vocal constantly shifts downward amidst an ambient atmosphere. Feels can be divided into two sections – the upbeat “song-oriented” half and the “contemplative introverted” half. Songs such as “Words”, “Grass” and “The Purple Bottle” all feature elements of albums past, such as the tribal drumming featured on “The Purple Bottle” and the outrageously spastic segments of noise on “Grass” in the form of a chorus. Tunes such as “Bees” and “Banshee Beat” both serve as the transition between these two halves but also combining elements of them as well; in the former, it focuses heavily on atmospherics and less on lyricism, while on the latter it takes aim at introspective lyricism and a slow, moody rhythm to dominate its eight-minute duration. The second half eschews upbeat compositional work and vocal-oriented songs for more ambient, drawn-out pieces that represent a come down from the excitement that took control of a great deal of Feels, as shown in the slow burning violin improvisation “Daffy Duck” (courtesy of Eyvind Kang) and the slightly-not-so-noisy bliss of “Loch Raven” before merging the two halves yet again in closer “Turn Into Something”, which made use of Doctess’ piano work which was featured all throughout the album, yet was often buried beneath the unusual guitar work and reverb-heavy vocalizations.

Feels is weird if we put it up against such bizarre works like the neo-psych insanity of Here Comes the Indian and the cool, comfortable Campfire Songs, but when putting in perspective, it’s another evolution in the AnCo discography that was bound to happen sooner or later. It doesn’t capture the band at its freakiest nor at its most normal (or whatever could come close to normal with these guys) and that’s what makes something like Feels such an anomaly.



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user ratings (1686)
4.1
excellent
other reviews of this album
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Comments:Add a Comment 
Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Akuma no Uta next



"Banshee Beat" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9XkTeNUTgY

"Bees" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxm2qTId7zg

"The Purple Bottle" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_LOiiWjpug

FullOfSounds
March 7th 2017


15821 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

A Fripp review hot off the press, dis is hype.



Pretty good review, you did a nice job comparing it to other AnCo releases and how it differs

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

boi u missed the sunflower review aka the best beach boys album

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

truly the utmost of hypes

Ryus
March 7th 2017


37886 Comments


a. webs cranking out the psych reviews nice

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

ever closer to 100

Tyler.
March 7th 2017


19033 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

POW

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

P O W

psandy
March 7th 2017


280 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Fuck, you keep reviewing my classics

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

keepin tabs on you



bout to be reviewing holland and carl and the passions soon enough

psandy
March 7th 2017


280 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

You inspire me. I've got a bit of history I uncovered that I'd like to show you regarding the Beach Boys, I'll try and track it down again and shout it to ya

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

By all means, please do!



Managed to track down some recordings from the CATP tour, and even if people don't like that album, these guys were on fire live



it's tragic the Chaplin/Fataar era didn't last much longer

theBoneyKing
March 7th 2017


24710 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

So does this album bring the feels?

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

ask avey

Ocean of Noise
March 7th 2017


11027 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Love this album.

MrSirLordGentleman
March 7th 2017


15343 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

review makes me think this is my kind of thing



def gonna check

Frippertronics
Emeritus
March 7th 2017


19623 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

pls do

calmrose
March 7th 2017


7040 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

favorite Animal Collective, always discovering something new with each listen

polyrhythm
March 7th 2017


2599 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

nice review, outrageously spastic/10

DoofusWainwright
March 7th 2017


19991 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Ah, this is now the tagged review, was gonna say a few reviews of this already



Review gets hung up on the 'w' word, I don't know if I've been conditioned to these dudes now but I'm not even sure I'd mention that they're supposedly weird if I reviewed them now...



Gonna check my 'Painting With' review for use of the word 'weird' now



Good review though, naturally



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