Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Animal Collective takes up where they left off with 2005's Feels, continuing with more traditional rock instrumentation (underlying a wealth of bizarre noises, rhythmic loops, and effects, naturally). The songs were written in a live setting (and polished on tours), and certainly convey that energy. They also convey the madcap experimentation that is the band's hallmark. As with Feels, or the preceding Sung Tongs, this is tempered by stellar songwriting ability, the ultimate factor in its success. The album opens with "Peacebone," an immediate indicator of the oddball, inspiring pop that follows. Its lyrics seem to be an inspirational missive on seizing the day, but then who can tell? On "Chores," Panda Bear puts in a manic sing-song with his Brian Wilson tenor, over a driving bed of sound effects and synth noises. "For Reverend Green" starts with a distorted wash of tremolo guitar and soon gives way to one of the finest pop songs the band has offered. Granted, it may not be radio pop, what with the mouth noises and surreal lyrics, but that's no small part of its charm. "Winter Wonder Land" is manic fist-pumping pop of the first order, and the crackly mellow piano sample opening "Cuckoo Cuckoo" does not prepare one for its pounding bombast. 2007 has been a typically prolific year for the band, and despite (or because of?) all their divergent pet projects, they've managed to improve with each outing. One can never quite tell what's next, and that's half the glory. Animal Collective's irreverence, absurdity, openness, and sheer melodic prowess conspire to produce yet another exceptional album. --Jason Pace Amazon.com

Blow your mind out

You've never heard anything like 'Strawberry Jam'. Every track is worth hooking up to an I.V. to let flow through your blood. May 6, 2008

Too Much Going On

Although there are a couple of songs I enjoy, Animal Collective just has too much going on in their music. I feel like I'm overdosing on speed every time I turn on one of their songs. I hate listening to some nerd-like voice try to sing and then out of the blue scream some nonsense. April 27, 2008

I dig it

this is just as good a place to start as "Sung Tongs" or "Feels". If you're into the more experimental, get those two first. Still, despite all the talk of the accessibility of this record and its more traditional rock song structures, it's still an acquired taste. My favorite song is the spine-tingling "Cuckoo," one of their greatest achievements so far. April 13, 2008

Something To Really Sink Your Teeth Into

After thoroughly immersing myself in 4 Animal Collective albums, (Here Comes the Indian, Sung Tongs, Feels, and Strawberry Jam), i can honestly say without hesitation or doubt, that these guys are genuinely freaky dudes (Native Belle), there is no question about it. I was convinced that they wanted me in a mental institution (anyone who has heard native belle or any of that album under the influence can attest to this). I think a common misconception with people is that they are being different for the sake of being different. Let me assure you, this is not the case. I think their flamboyant personality really works on this here record, because they are totally out of control, yet most of their songs are confined to some sort of structure, blending pop melodies, psychedelic sounds, electronic bleeps and blips, odd time signatures, and folk tendencies into something original and experimental, yet accessible to someone new to their music.

"Chores" sounds innocent enough, with it's swirling, tornado like verses complete with static, and what sounds almost like streamers and a fireworks display. 4/5

"For Reverend Green" reminds me a lot of Modest Mouse on "Good News" (see: The World At Large) until they break into the chorus. an excellent song exploring a lot of territory, and experimenting with different sounds. The vocals are really what drives this song. 4.5/5

"Cuckoo" starts out slow, with a meandering piano loop, some background vocals, some blips, and then all of a sudden everything stops and the song really starts with a steady piano loop (always present throughout) and some electro glitch like sounds. Part of the brilliance of this song is the fact that he matches the lyrics perfectly with the anxiety of the track. Everything comes to a head and he begins to cry out for help: "Sometimes all I want's one favorite song/And two to three minutes don't seem so long/And where's my mom, I wanna hold her tight/She's so far away from crowded nights. He's really going cuckoo, but trying to convince himself that it's ok, as the anxiety blossoms out into a panic attack freak out, basically alternating back and forth between calm and out of control. Really something to behold. 5/5

"Fireworks" is an absolute masterpiece. Animal Collective have really found their niche here. A Helicopter like beat, beautiful vocal harmony, with a voice reminiscent of Mick Jagger: Full of emotion, but toned down a few notches.(Then i start to feel tragic/People greet me/I'm polite). It's as if they incorporated everything that was great from their previous albums into this. Everything starts to come together forming a mini climax of sorts (They make me feel that I'm only all i see sometimes). A song reflecting on the importance of living. note the time changes from the verse first to the second. 6/5

"Unsolved mysteries" starts off a bit slow, but erupts into an incredible underwater circus complete with water sounds and a chorus that reminds me a lot of the Annuals. So much going on, but as i alluded to before, nothing seems out of place, and the song reaches it's destination. 6/5 because of the chorus.

"Winter Wonder Land" progressively gets better and better, reaching a aesthetically pleasing climax after the bridge as he "ohh's and ahh's" at the snow outside of his window. 5/5 short and sweeeeet.

I think Animal Collective is as close to being completely original as you can get. They like everyone else, probably have their influences (or at least someone you can compare them with, mine being Mick Jagger and the Annuals), but still sound like they are animal collective, and nobody else. Plus i think going against the grain (something i don't think they do purposely) is much needed in this day and age in music, where your run of the mill pop song is running rampant nearly everywhere you look.


Honorary Mentions:
"Derek"
"#1"
"Peacebone"







March 29, 2008

this album blows

I Love Panda Bear and I love Noah's voice, unfortunately this album is all shrieks of the Avery variety, which equals to me , total pain. Being a former Fanimal, yes that term exists, I've come to realize I no longer hold this band in such high esteem, particularly after this dreadful album.

I disliked it so much I deleted it from my hard drive so it wouldn't even have the chance of coming up on shuffle. January 31, 2008

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