An infectious new album from Animal Collective

By: Sarah MacDonald –

What makes Animal Collective brilliant is their insanely astute ability to be forward thinking, weird, and completely unapologetic about it. They are messy, mellow, loud, and incredibly self-aware. Often characterized as a kind of psych folk, noisy rock, Animal Collective transcends any concrete genre. Their ninth studio album, Centipede Hz, comes on the heels of the critically acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavilion and the result is much different.

When other bands reach for that kind of difference it’s off-putting. You don’t expect it nor really want it. But this is how Animal Collective crafts music. If the same sort of sound permeated throughout their entire musical career it would be boring. They wouldn’t really be Animal Collective if they functioned that way.

Similarities exist on this record that do on other records, making it a recognizably Animal Collective. They play with buzzes, bleeps, seemingly (probably definitively) placed noise pops, and what I think would be the sound of someone’s face melting off on epic closer “Amanita.” It’s an innovative record, for sure, but slightly darker, muddled and weirder as a result of it. It’s as cacophony of noises and emotions and its disconnect lies in listening to the record in its entirety. Songs stand alone well, such as opener “Moonjock” and slick, sing-a-long, sweetly dark “Applesauce.”

To the point of their self-awareness, the track “Wide-Eyed” may be the best on the record because of this ability. Avey Tare, singer, laments over a cyclical, rhythmic sound, “I’m still finding what’s sure/And not getting lost in my mind/I know I can try.” Sure, the song is about a woman but it is the most sinister sounding on Centipede Hz. It begins with psychedelic musical swirls and ends with a man’s maniacal laughter.

Overall, it’s an interesting record, which is what you would expect of Animal Collective. It is lacking a cohesiveness that would push it forward even more. It’s almost there but not quite. It makes you wonder: if this is what Animal Collective is capable of now, what will the future hold?