{"id":3188,"date":"2016-03-07T13:16:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-07T18:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3188"},"modified":"2016-03-07T13:16:44","modified_gmt":"2016-03-07T18:16:44","slug":"animal-collective-paints-new-album","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=3188","title":{"rendered":"Animal Collective ‘paints’ new album"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted March 7, 2016<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By CLARISSA BUCH<\/p>\n

Animal Collective\u2019s newest studio album \u201cPainting With\u201d is just that \u2013 a painting. But instead of a physical work, it\u2019s an immaterial hodgepodge of sounds, colors and words, resulting in sheer confusion for the average listener.<\/p>\n

But, for Animal Collective followers, the concept isn\u2019t new. The avant-pop band is known to be psychedelic, with many of its music videos displaying a viewer discretion for those with photosensitive epilepsy to warn they might trigger seizures.<\/p>\n

\u201cPainting With,\u201d released on Feb. 19, is no different to Animal Collective\u2019s previous works. Its bouncy and, quite honestly, weirdly sounding music serves listeners who have grown to love them over the past decade \u2013 the listeners who can be categorized into a post-guitar generation, preferring electronically generated sounds to old-school instruments like pianos, drums or any stringed gadget.<\/p>\n

As the band\u2019s 10th\u00a0studio album, \u201cPainting With\u201d is its first collection of songs since its 2012 album \u201cCentipede Hz.\u201d Though certain bands dramatically change their sound from album to album, Animal Collective stays just as weird. And, when listeners thought it couldn\u2019t get anymore bizarre, \u201cPainting With\u201d was released \u2013 a compilation of high-pitched, synth-heavy chants and noises.<\/p>\n

Animal Collective\u2019s \u201cPainting With\u201d features three bandmates: Dave Portner, Noah Lennox and Brian Weitz, who veered off into other musical realms during the band\u2019s hiatus. The trio, who began making music in the late 1990s, is responsible for Animal Collective\u2019s 2009 album \u201cMerriweather Post Pavilion,\u201d which is what put the band on the radar of most mainstream listeners, with catchy tunes like \u201cMy Girls,\u201d \u201cIn the Flowers\u201d and \u201cSummertime Girls.\u201d Josh Dibb, who joined the band for its 2012 album \u201cCentipede Hz\u201d was absent on both \u201cMerriweather Post Pavilion\u201d and \u201cPlaying With.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though tracks on \u201cMerriweather Post Pavilion\u201d and \u201cPainting With\u201d sound nearly the same, \u201cPlaying With\u201d is a disappointment rather than an advancement. What made \u201cMerriweather Post Pavilion\u201d interesting, like striking sounds and eye-catching graphics, is tired and overused in \u201cPlaying With.\u201d Avid listeners, who are used to Animal Collective\u2019s kookiness, expected something eccentric with \u201cPlaying With.\u201d But, the album sounded more like a continuation of previous works than something new and noteworthy.<\/p>\n

The 12-song album, which is grossly made up of obscure, videogame-sounding tracks, does have a few oddly addicting pieces. \u201cFloriDada,\u201d \u201cGolden Gal\u201d and \u201cLying in the Grass\u201d feature easy-to-sing chants that feed a song\u2019s irresistibility. They\u2019re too easy not to sing along to.<\/p>\n

For a band that calls itself \u201cexperimental pop\/rock,\u201d \u201cPainting With\u201d is just that. It\u2019s experimental in ways most bands wouldn\u2019t dare to be. But, as the band carries a loyal group of followers, it can afford to churn out such outlandish sounds.<\/p>\n

Ask an Animal Collective listener if he or she enjoyed \u201cPainting With\u201d and they\u2019ll probably say yes, but not because of its sound. The band represents a refusal to conform to mainstream music. For loyal listeners, the band is a look into the future with a sound never seen or heard on a mainstream stage before.<\/p>\n

But, ask a listener who enjoys catchy pop tunes or classic hard rock, and he or she will probably be left confused as to what \u201cPainting With\u201d really is. Is it music, a video game or a malfunction in a child\u2019s electronic toy?<\/p>\n