This album starts off with “Season High”, and to be honest it’s not what I expected to hear. It’s a very subtle, natural atmosphere, with Avey strumming and singing over all of it. To be honest, it’s actually really sweet and charming. Avery sounds actually really good on his own, in a way that sort of reminds me of the early days of Panda Bear’s solo work. I mean, we have a seriously sunny atmosphere, and the obvious influences deriving from classic Pop as well. It’s a sound that I really didn’t expect to hear Avey touch, but here we are. It’s whimsical and adventurous, but it’s also seriously classy and interesting. Also, in general, it’s just really nice to hear Avey on his own. I feel like on this album he comes off so much more enchanting and intriguing than he did on his other solo ventures. I really can’t help but get caught up in “Season High”, it’s honestly beautiful. However, like any Animal Collective related work, this one takes patience and lots of it. Then we have “Melody Unfair”, and to be honest, I haven’t heard anything remotely this wild and fearless from an Animal Collective related project in a really long time. Avey continues to sound really in command of all of this. It’s not messy at all, which surprising to hear, to be honest. The atmosphere here and for most of this album is just so thick and dreamy. It’s one that you really just need to sit back let yourself get wrapped up in. Now, I don’t think “Melody Unfair” comes off as a well as the intro here, mostly because of the less melodic passages. But it’s still interesting and whimsical, and totally something out of the book of classic Animal Collective. I actually really love a lot of the backing instrumentals here. For example, that one guitar or whatever it is Avey is strumming on gives this sort of a beachy tone. This one is still overall pretty decent. Then we have “Ms. Secret”, which honest to God sounds like “Sung Tongs” era Animal Collective. And let me tell you, it’s GOOD. I love Avey’s strong vocal harmonies on this one, which might be some of his best to date. It’s the sort of Freak Folk and Psychedelic Folk that got Animal Collective on the map in the first place, and man is it ever refreshing to hear. It’s totally different than what Animal Collective have been going for as a whole recently. In a way, this is the era that really needs to come back. The atmosphere is swirling and sweet, I honestly love just about everything on display here. Plus, I love the very swirling, repetitive, mantra like vocals as well. But then we start getting into some weirder territory, like “Lunch Out Of Order Pt. 1”, which I’m sure is going to interest a whole lot more people that aren't me. But sound collages like this sometimes do little to nothing for me. If it ended up leading somewhere, I’d be interested. But this honestly really doesn’t sound like it’s going anywhere at all. Yes, it’s wild and wonderfully Psychedelic, but this has zero purpose seemingly. However, some of Avey’s haunting vocals towards the end do work out nicely. “Lunch Out Of Order Pt. 2” isn’t that much more compelling sadly. I’ve been a fan of Animal Collective and its member for years, but their music has always had a purpose. But this duo of tracks seems completely directionless. However, this one does get a little bit more compelling when Avey’s verse starts. His vocals come off really nice, but as a whole, this one is seriously disjointed. This duo of tracks could have been something interesting easily, but it ends up being an afterthought.
Thankfully, Avey really redeems himself with “Jackson 5”. Now I hate to keep saying it, but there are some moments on this one where I’m getting some ridiculous old school Animal Collective vibes from this ambiance. I love the seriously off kilter funk here of these very twangy acoustic guitars. Then we have Avey’s groovy, eclectic vocals here which I seriously love. As far as a single goes, this is a seriously awesome track. It brings in a lot of the Freak Folk elements that I haven’t heard from Avey in years. There’s also a sort of innocence to his lyrics and vocals, a playful innocence that once again I haven’t heard in years. Up next the very very subtle atmospheres and playful attitudes continue with “DR aw one for J”. I feel like a lot of this album is a serious creative peak for Avey, we haven’t heard him this seriously fearless in a very long time. I like the more intense drones on this one, with Ave’s very muffled and bizarre (yet strangely harmonious vocals) behind it all. I wouldn’t say this is “Track of the album” status, but it’s an interesting experiment. Not to mention, it shows that Avey still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. By the time we get to “PJ”, it hits me just how much Psychedelic Folk we’re hearing here, which is the last thing I expected to hear. On this one, I’m totally into the instrumentals and the very swirling atmosphere that’s constantly hard to place. But vocally, boy this one leaves a LOT to be desired. This doesn’t even sound like Avey, to be honest. I’m up for Avey pushing himself into tracks like this. But vocally this track is a mess. His falsettos are seriously awful, and really don’t compliment the very subtle nature of this track. Instrumentally though, this one is certainly interesting and eclectic enough to keep my interest. Then we have “In Pieces”, and from this intro, I really didn’t expect to like this one at all. But vocally, I feel like Avey is seriously on to something here. It’s actually really refreshing to hear him so straight forward and unaltered. The instrumentals are still highly experimental and completely left field, but as weird as “In Pieces” gets it has a purpose. I love how unnerving and seriously twisted some of the instrumentals are here as well. Like, there’s some seriously twisted stuff flowing through the background. Overall, this one is another really interesting experiment for Avey. There are some seriously great melodies here and there. And not to mention, some of the production choose and sound effects in that last minute are stunning. Out of nowhere things get strangely somber though with “Selection of a Place”. Avey’s vocals on this one are just so shaky and sound so bruised. Then we have the even more somber and almost dark instrumental. It all just seems so lifeless, but at the minute mark, things really start to build up nicely. To be honest, I really love the very bouncy and animated guitars. Plus, his vocals here are some of his most melodic we’ve heard so far. But then we have another few minutes where Avey once again just sounds so damn down in the dumps. However, as a whole, it’s interesting to see the seriously stark comparison between both. It’s an interesting experiment once again.
“Boat Race” is up next, and as bizarre and experimental as this all comes off, it’s just so Avey Tare. He sounds so at home amongst this constantly shifting, swirling, psychedelic atmosphere. For one of the shorter tracks here, this actually comes off really great I love Avey’s constantly shifting vocals and the twisted production. I love it. But as this album goes on and on, I get more and more vibes from the classic days of Animal Collective. Like, there are moments on “Roamer” that sound like they were ripped directly from “Strawberry Jam”. It’s the very bouncy nature of the instrumentals and just how spontaneous they come off. Avey’s vocals once again come off just as eclectic, as they constantly bounce between upper and lower registers. The dynamics of this album are actually all really interesting, with all of these clashing concepts and sounds coming off so well. Not to mention, it keeps me guessing constantly to what I’m going to hear next. Oh boy, but then we get “Coral Lords”, which sounds painfully boring from its intro. Now, I didn’t really know what to expect on this album showing up for it. But the last thing I expected to hear was a Semi-Documentary on CORAL. The atmosphere here is nice and all, but then we have this tedious narrator talking about coral. All the while, Avey lazily is moaning his way through the background. Once out awful lesson is over, Avey’s vocals are on their own, and there is a LOT to be desired. As strong as this atmosphere is, and as detailed and intricate this instrumental is, Avey seems like he threw this one together in a matter of 5 minutes. Now, I’ll give “Coral Lords” this. Around the 3 minute mark, things explode and open up into this very colorful atmosphere. So I do have to give this track some credit because it does improve. But I feel like a lot of this is done without a real purpose. Then when things sort of calm down again, and Avey’s vocals go back to their quiet dynamic, once again I have to fight the urge to fall asleep. Not to mention, even lyrically this track just comes off so half-baked. I want to like “Coral Lords”, but I just can’t. “Sports In July” is up next, and to be frank it’s a little too far out there for my liking. Avey doesn’t really need to be so freakin’ weird, because on other tracks here he’s proven that he can write some seriously great pop tunes. Instrumentally though, I do like a lot of the very unnerving portions of this. Especially after he sort of went for that on that Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks project. There are some seriously great elements to this on instrumentally, and I really do love a lot of the trickery on this one. But vocally this one really was not for me, even those female vocals come off as just head scratching. But instrumentally, this is as fearless as I could have hoped to hear. This album ends off with “When You Left Me”. As far as the atmosphere goes here, Avey really continues to shine as a producer and all. But here, Avey has his head focused much more toward his harmonies. I’m not asking for pop anthems from Avey. But here, we just get enough of a hook to make this seriously memorable. And the result is seriously beautiful and haunting. Instrumentally, “When You Left Me” is just as twisted and bizarre, but it’s also seriously intense. In general, this is seriously an amazing track. I haven’t heard Avey this intense or emotional in so long, I’m honestly glad that Avey saved this for the finale.
Rating: 7.7/10
Give A Listen To: “Season High”, “Ms. Secret”, "Jackson 5", "When You Left Me"
Overall Thoughts: This is easily the most interesting album Avey Tare has done without the usual backing of his Animal Collective brothers. Even some of the less interesting tracks here have moments of sheer brilliance. It's a little long, and you are going to certainly need to give 110% of you're attention to this album. But for an experimental album from one of Psychedelic Pop's finest, it's wild and very creative.
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