Strawberry Jam (Domino)
I heard once that you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover. This is partially applicable to Animal Collective' s new album for me, except for the fact that I had no idea what to think about Strawberry Jam from that smashed strawberry on the front. I guess, though, that's fitting for Animal Collective as you're never too sure what to expect when hearing one of their album's for the first time. If there's one thing they're not, it's predictable. And this rings true for Strawberry Jam. It feels more progressive, experimental and even more upbeat than their past albums... yet there's a cohesiveenss and addictiveness about the songs that make them strangely accessible, maybe more so than past releases.
Animal Collective is a pro at creating loops and then building a song around it. Even from the first track, "Peacebone", this can be heard. But "Peacebone" is anything but a simple-structured song as it is filled with all sorts of sounds that make it, um, delicious and worth its first single rank. Other examples of strong loops that real you in are "For Reverend Green" and "Cuckoo Cuckoo." The former is excellent as it builds a strong layering over its foundation, including infectious vocals. "Cuckoo, Cuckoo" doesn't quite get over its initial build-up to take you anywhere substantial.
With an Animal Collective album, you also know you're going to hear all types of sounds from instruments you many have never heard of. One of their strengths is being able to tame the instruments to construct experimental -and maybe bizarre- yet legitimate music, that doesn't rely on the pretension of simply "experimentation." Good examples are the impressive tracks, "Winter Wonder Land", "Chores" and "Fireworks". The latter could be arguably the strongest song of the album. The vocals can be lost in all the noise but "Winter Wonder Land" and "Chores" remind us that the vocals are not any less important with their intriguing, effortless melodies. This is definitely for fans of progressive, push-the-boundaries music. And oh, by the way, they named the album Strawberry Jam because they were served a small. pristine cup of it on a plane and its properties were intriguing to them -properties that they wanted in their music, most importantly, how delicious it looked and tasted. Well it is a tasty treat, so good thinking boys.
"Peacebone"
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