Customer Reviews

Feels (Vinyl)

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On their latest album, Animal Collective sound for the first time like what they've always been to detractors with more outré tastes: an indie rock band. That's no bad thing, as despite a more conventional approach, Feels is the work of a band tapping into the narrative of Western pop while making it their own. The record is sequenced carefully, with jauntier, tuneful numbers leading to an amorphous back half. If the childhood pals can stay friends and continue to inspire each other we may have some more great records down the road. At the moment they're on a pretty heady plateau.

Folk jazz. Psychedelic prog. Experimental indie.

Animal Collective uses all those sounds (and more) in their seventh album, the freakily beautiful "Feels." With pop melodies that are never catchy and instrumentation that is never ordinary, they manage to weave together songs that break away creatively from their past work.

It opens with a delicate burbling noise, somewhere between laughter and a brook. From there on, the Collective takes it into a bouncy, merry indiepop number called "Did You See the Words." Not only is it fun to listen to, but it's decorated with bells, piano and a chorus of happy voices.

From there on, they follow it up with the mad sparkle of "Grass," shimmering indie ballads, acoustic dance music, wandering experimental collages, and tight little dark indie-rock numbers that are as strippd down as this band will ever. The highlight of the entire album is "Bees," a delicate post-rock exercise in strumming, piano, and meditating on... life and bees.

One of the biggest problems a band can have is trying out new sounds, without abandoning the old. In "Feels," the Animal Collective has dropped some of the sonic trappings of their previous album, in favour of more straightforward melodies. Of course, "straightforward" is relative -- many of the songs still drift through in clouds of sweetness.

It's kind of hard to pick apart these melodies, and figure out what instruments were used to create them. I can tell you this much: There's sweeping delicate synth, some great piano work, solid drums, and an off-kilter autoharp. There is an occasional drone of guitar riffs, but mostly they stick to the gentler acoustic stuff, which gives it a folky edge.

Avey Tare's voice swims through the music like a psychedelic duck. He doesn't sound like a singer so much as another instrument. He takes the listener through giddiness to depression, and finally to the enlightenment of how to be happy -- the last song just shimmers down into a piano solo, and fades.

Bold, bright and charming, "Feels" is another triumph for the Animal Collective. And it's recommended for anyone who needs to get into a sunny mood, fast

If Banshee Beat (track 6) was the only song in the world, I would smile :) What a beautiful band.

Feels sounds much like Funeral by The Arcade Fire. However Animal Collective uses more symphonic type of music. It's great album and definately worth checking out and listening to it repeatedly.