Review: Animal Collective - Feels

Feels is the one you've been waiting for. After the critical explosion following last year's Sung Tongs and the still-resonant impact of 2003's dual statements of purpose, Campfire Songs and Here Comes The Indian, Animal Collective have pulled off a rare trick in the indie music world - at the same time that they have delivered on the promise of their current aesthetic, they have also shown an infinite number of paths the future direction of their music could take.

If "Who Could Win A Rabbit" was your pop hit that should have been from last year, I'd like to introduce you to "Grass." Clocking in at a hair less than three minutes, "Grass" takes the genuinely bizarre atmosphere of the aformentioned pop coup and expands it into about a million different musical galaxies at once. Is it the thudding drum sound, the buzzing guitar, or the perfectly unexpected but perfectly acceptable screeches at the end of every chorus that make "Grass" a total aurual head-trip in less time than it takes to prepare a Pop Tart? God knows, but by the time you're done with it (to say nothing of opener of "Did You See The Words" - because, really, there are no words), you need a brief respite in "Flesh Canoe" (these are the best song titles I have heard since Guided By Voices closed a 20-year career with Half Smiles of the Decomposed last year).

But just as quickly as your cerebral matter has been lulled by its charming, howling vocals and insane atmospherics, your mind is dug out of the fallout shelter and exposed to another 50,000 volts of pure folk-rock action with "The Purple Bottle" which, although it is not the ultimate AC track, may well be the penultimate one. Here, all becomes clear - and you realize that 2-3 minute gems like "Rabbit" and "Grass" are the exception, not the rule. AC works their truly unique magic by coming on strong with a seemingly predictable dynamic in regards to sound texture - dissolving effects and novel lyrics paired with skittery percussion - but then you realize this song is almost seven minutes long. That's two "Grasses" and, like, three-and-a-half "Rabbits" - so where the hell are we going? That's easy, we're going to friggin'-awesome town. At about 3:40 the song could end, or stretch on to infinity, whichever you prefer (or whichever, you perceive but we'll get to that later [actually, we won't - figure it out for yourself and check out where I live]), but instead it gets a bit conventional in its rock-breakdown approach (just to confuse you further, methinks). And then out of nowhere the vocals come back, but the whole sound is fuller and deeper than before. How? Why? Don't question, just sit back and enjoy the trip.

Article Author: Max Burke

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