Animal Collective

Nine animals in search of an album.

Related Content

• DJ Racoon on Beat Mass, SLASH Pool Party, & Straying From Top 40
  July 8, 2011
• White Rabbits, Gull, and Other Successful Animal Rock Bands
  March 30, 2012
• Tune and and Trip Out: Prince Rama to Open for Gang Gang Dance
  October 4, 2011
• Panda Bear: Tomboy
  April 4, 2011
• JEFF the Brotherhood, North Dakota, and Wooden Indian at Rhythm Room, 5/17/12
  May 18, 2012

More About

• Animal Collective

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Vaguely folky, kinda psychedelic, slightly jammy, and decidedly challenging, Animal Collective makes records that are impenetrable on first listen. Though its profile raised with last year's Sung Tongs, the band's higher visibility hasn't blunted its musical meanderings. But while Feelssucceeds at being sonically enigmatic, patient ears will discover that the group's mix of chants, screams, animal noises, and lo-fi soundscapes is rarely bratty or self-adoring. But that doesn't negate the fact that not all experiments work. While an atmospheric track like "Loch Raven" locks into a slumberous groove, the longer tribal numbers such as "The Purple Bottle" prattle on for seven minutes without ever sparking much interest for anybody outside of Animal Collective's adoring cult. Still, at only nine tracks, Feels' warm home-recording vibe outweighs its what-the-hell-is-this?indulgences. If you detest the idea of arty bohemians commandeering indie rock, Feelswill at least make you question your prejudices.