The defining moment of Animal Collective's 2009, which featured the release of albums-of-the-year list staple Merriweather Post Pavillion, comes in the middle of Graze
the opening track on the band's Fall Be Kind EP.
After a dreamy beginning, the song rapidly shifts into a folksy flute melody, gleefully snapping any pretensions that the quartet is going to stick to the sound that the NPR-listening, flannel-wearing set has come to expect from it over the past year.
By taking musical risks throughout this album, Animal Collective has managed to craft a collection of Merriweather outcasts into a strong collection worthy of its own praise. In the process, the band has likely cemented its status as band of the year.
One of these risks involves the first-ever licensed sample of a Grateful Dead song, as Garcia and gang's Unbroken Chain is used to set a more upbeat mood throughout What Would I Want? Sky easily the EP's cheeriest tune. Every other song on the collection moves away from the summer sounds of Merriweather, instead evoking the feeling of a lonely drive on a brisk autumn day.
Part of this tune change is the increased presence of orchestral sounds, as Heather Mills plays cello on both Graze and Bleed. This change in sound is complimented by metacritical thoughts on who Animal Collective is as a band and where they came from.
Graze for instance, features the lyrics Comfort
comfort/Why do you run for it?/Why can't you keep doing/What you're supposed to do? This could be seen as a criticism of other bands falling into complacency instead of acknowledging the constant need to innovate and change in order to improve.
Another song, On a Highway
ruminates on the monotony of the road, as band member Dave Portner (a.k.a. Avey Tare) writes, On a highway/Hypnotized by sun strokes/Passing by some dead bones/Flowers for the dead grow ... On a highway/I'm sick from too much reading/Jealous of Noah's dreaming/Can't help my brain from thinking.
Fortunately for its listeners, Animal Collective's empty thoughts tend to become excellent music.
Album: Fall Be Kind
Artist: Animal Collective
Label: Domino Records
Stars: 4 out of 5
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Culture
Adam Wagner
