Animal Collective are back with what Panda Bear considers their 11th LP, Painting With. While not too much of a departure from their past, for the most Painting With is a bright and bubbly, Willy Wonka-ish ride, littered with trippy vocal echo and weird samples.
The lead singles, FloriDada, Lying in the Grass, and Golden Gal, are all fun and provide the album’s greatest satisfaction. The opener FloriDada is a well-polished freakshow that will have you uncontrollably bopping and chanting “FloriDada.” Their music often has that trance like effect. Lying in the Grass could be described as Daft Punk and the Beastie Boys playing Mario Kart together. It’s a slower and darker track compared to the rest, with some sax helping to create an eerie feel. Golden Gal is inspired by The Golden Girls, evident from a slightly edited dialogue sample from the show: “Is this about – where your head’s at?” “No, Blanche, she’s upset because they keep changing the taste of coke”. The lyrics reveal this to be a song about golden girl power, a tribute to empowering female roles. It’s the pick of the record.
Compared to their earlier successes, Painting With is a bit of a safer album from the Collective’s Avery Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), and Geologist (Brian Weitz). It’s a bit too predictable to live up to their experimental reputation. In summary, it’s a trippy album with lots of crazy looping sounds and burp like beats.
BY LEE SPENCER-MICHAELSEN
