Album Review: Animal Collective - Centipede Hz

Artist: Animal CollectiveAlbum: Centipede HzRelease Date: September 4 2012Label: Domino RecordsComing off the release of its universally acclaimed, genre defying, putting-modern-psychedelia on the map-ing eighth release Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective seems to have retreated from its catchy pop melodies and bright instrumentation on Centipede Hz. The band reverted to the more traditional (by which I mean batshit crazy) Animal Collective sound heard on earlier releases like Strawberry Jam.While Merriweather attempted to unite Animal Collective's experimental songwriting with a sunny and accessible sound, Centipede Hz marches in strict tandem with the chaotic and frenzied song structures that form the album's skeleton. Distortion reigns supreme over every aspect of production, with guitars, vocals, and keyboards alike enveloped in an inferno of white noise and overwhelming static. The whole effort is saturated with noise and frenetic energy, which, accompanied by Animal Collective's traditionally atavistic and joyful vocals, creates a sonic riptide that pulls the listener along unrelentingly for most of the album's first half, before the band begins to lapse into a more manageable pace for the final few songs. This energy is exemplified by Today's Supernatural, the album's second track, which screams along like a ragged twister and punishes the listener with so many varying melodies and random sounds that it almost becomes impenetrable. There's an exhilaration to this frenzied approach however, that thrills and overwhelms at its peak and compounds the release and catharsis the listener feels when the band finally decides to let the up for air. The overall album ends up feeling less like a series of songs and more like a variety of tempos and sensations, that for all its craziness, manages to successfully converge into a burst of fried psychedelic energy. While it may lose listeners looking for a more containable and succinct experience; Centipede Hz rewards those willing to stay with the it long enough to make sense of its gargantuan sprawl and chaotic energy with one hell of a sonic roller coaster.

Rating (by pizza size):

10″ (small pie)12″ (medium pie)14″ (large pie)16″ (X-large pie)18″ (Really big pizza)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47xbkT3calM