I got my hands on 6 tracks from the upcoming Animal Collective album, Strawberry Jam, and I am floored.
First, there’s “Peacebone:” all drums, pulsing noise, screams, and Beach Boy vocals. Magnificent. It evolves into a psychedelic drum freakout. Then, “Unsolved Mysteries:” staccato guitars and more vocal weirdness. Again, like “Peacebone,” it freaks out at the end. “Chores,” which was amazing live, takes the spiraling vox, puts them over a driving beat and a swooping bass.
Johnny Marr said that during the creation of “How Soon Is Now,” he’d wanted to create a guitar riff as instantly recognizable as The Stones’ “Satisfaction.” I believe that Animal Collective have done the same on “For Reverend Green,” and it’s the pinnacle of what I’ve heard so far. One of the best Animal collective tracks ever.
#1 takes Who-style keyboards and adds them to the mix. It’s awesome. Which leads us to “Winter Wonderland,” another amazing track, and the most driving of the bunch. It’s propulsive, spacy, and dance-able all at once.
Can’t wait for the whole album, their 8th full-length, which will be 9 tracks. This two-thirds that I have heard is simply amazing.
The whole album (9 tracks, anyway) leaked out onto OiNK last week.