Centipede Hz
Year: 2012
Format: Radio.myanimalhome.net/
Grade: B-
Animal Collective are masters of making bizarre concepts listenable, so a person must be primed to go places upon first hearing a new AnCo album.
Centipede Hz, the band's first since its 2009 breakthrough, Merriweather Post Pavilion, continues its dedication to never making two records that sound alike — or much like anyone else.
Centipede Hz is in keeping with the Baltimore quartet's trend for quirk. "Today's Supernatural," the lead single, feels like an effort to cram as many ideas into the same song as possible, yet Avey Tare's stutter on the repeated "Let-let-let-let-let-let go" makes the tune somehow click.
Some records age like wine, others like milk. Historically, initial listens to AnCo records leave the impression they will do the latter and instead the former happens. So, while my first impression of Centipede Hz is that it's a bit overstuffed, I'm open to the possibility it will turn into wine as the clock marches forward.
Given the fact Animal Collective's last four records — Sung Tongs, Feels, Strawberry Jam and MPP — all reached their full potential as palette pleasers with time, Centipede Hz deserves the benefit of a few doubts.
Tomorrow's entry: Sufjan Stevens, Michigan
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