#9 Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam

For as much attention as Noah Lennox was given for the tribal, plaintive beauty of side project Panda Bear this year, I hold Animal Collective’s back-breaking Strawberry Jam in much higher regard. Snuffing out the distracting quirks that made Person Pitch a slightly monocrhome indulgence for Lennonx, the band’s sixth LP capitalizes on each of the four band member’s musical dissimilarities for a highly eclectic collaboration. Much the same way the album cover alters what should be a sweet treat into a mangled, bloody mess, Animal Collective converts playful pop into a visceral jolt to the senses through the quartet’s latticed psych-rock toppled with Dave Portner’s feverish shrieks that play a more dominant role than previous efforts. Set underway with “Peacebone,” a faraginous cue into Strawberry Jam’s relentless aggression that tinkers with quaint vocals only to crush them underfoot with ravaged synths, it then diverges to the carnie psychadelia of “Unsolved Mysteries” that drowns overlapping organs together with garish drum thrusts ’til it boils to a nefarious, mongrel cross-breed. Then in comes Lennox with his tempered blossom of a voice trying desperately to keep up with the frenetic pace of “Chores” for the first minute-and-a-half before it melts to a manageable stride, allowing for his dolorous chants to catch amid hazy bell chimes and a kickdrum beat that peters out to an ambient wash. That makes way for the album’s centerpiece, “For Reverend Green,” set against a buzzing guitar refrain before Portner enters, emoting each syllable that teeters between melodic and full-throated cries, sqauwking manically, “I think it’s alright to feel inhuman now/Now I think that’s a riot.” As you can tell, Strawberry Jam is as mentally divergent as it is tireless, and we’ve only covered less than half the album. With the exception of their last LP Feels in ‘05, I’ve yet to delve into Animal Collective’s earlier catalogue – having released a hefty handful since their formation in 2000 – but, if not just to make better sense of the band’s varied roots, then as a hopeful search for Jam’s equal, I’m more than eager to further unveil Animal Collective’s frantic brilliance.