Despite the current shift to strangely accessible indie-pop that hasbeen prevalent in recent years, Animal Collective’s records have neversuffered from the feeling that they’re trying to pull a cheap one ontheir fans. Rather, like the best pop music, their songs are organicand never forced.Fat Cat
Their music seems beamedin from another world—at once mysterious and instantly recognizable.On Feels, their lackadaisicaltake on pop music is tightened up considerably. Whereas the melodiesand song structures on Sung Tongs seemed to meander with little to no idea as to where they wanted to go, the songson Feels, though still imbued with the group’s wide-eyed approach, aremuch tighter and more accomplished.
At the album’s most accessible,songs like “Grass” and “The Purple Bottle” seem to jump out of theirskins, pushed along by stomping drums, plinking piano and unhingedvocals. The meditative “Bees,” on the other hand, blossoms slowly,revealing its subtle pop hooks buried underneath what sounds like astrummed sitar. Animal Collective displays a strong sense of dynamicsthroughout the album but it really comes to the forefront on songs like“Banshee Beat,” a song that takes it’s time before launching into astomping beat and triumphant chorus.
While other groups attempt to cramas many pop hooks into as short a song as possible, Animal Collectiveare content to let songs ebb and flow on their own. This is thestrength of Feels: it is an unhurried collection of joyful songs thatnever panders or sells the listener short.
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