Yahoo! Music Review

Released on 09/04/07
Label: Paw Tracks

In 1966, Brian Wilson and lyrical co-conspirator Van Dyke Parks embarked on what the Beach Boy leader described as his "teenage symphony to God" - a multi-layered song cycle that would pitch the band as psychedelic Pilgrim Fathers and trace the story of America through the eyes of Hanna-Barbera. Christening it "Smile", they actually achieved these ends on incredible songs like "Cabinessence" and "Surf's Up". On the other side of the coin they also mucked about - recording Paul McCartney munching carrots and such like. The whole project then fell Icarus-like from the sky, taking Wilson with it.

"Person Pitch", the third album from Animal Collective drummer Panda Bear (Noah Lennox to his mum) proves to be very much a spiritual heir to the former - tapping into Wilson's starsailing ambitions, but infusing them with the spirit of Geronimo and all kind of primeval religious craziness. Traversing the furthest reaches of harmony, this incredible piece of work mostly sounds like the natives of "King Kong" gathering on the shores of Skull Island to recite the Beach Boys greatest hits.

How Lennox did this almost solely through the use of samplers is anyone's guess, but by layering washes of sound and leaving all imperfections intact he creates a magical and abstract soundworld - at once childlike and sophisticated. This is never more so than on opener "Comfy In Nautica", where multi-tracked chants of harmony are juxtaposed against what appear to be jet fighters and all manner of sonic hiss. The uncomfortable soon becomes comforting, and the more attuned you become to it, the more unsettling it becomes. An incessant chorus repeats the same mantra: "Try to remember always to have a good time."

Clearly, this is clever stuff and not quite as random as it first appears. "Take Drugs" is the aural equivalent of exactly that, and from initial dissonance a finger-clicking melody emerges. "Bros", the most conventional track by far, in that it starts like something from The Zombies "Odessey And Oracle", albeit recorded in a wind tunnel, would be almost Top 40 friendly in another universe. But then it goes on for near on 20 minutes. "Person Pitch"Lennox stretches the envelope, the listener gets lost in the vacuum.

There are red herrings (the 15 minute "Good Girl/Carrots" is a bit testy on the shuffle finger) but more often than not he comes up with gold. Riding out with the gorgeous hymnal "Ponytail" and its pretty refrain ("When my soul starts growing, I get so hungry…and I wish that it never would, never would…") the whole sprawling experience concludes with some sort of clarity. The puzzle comes together and, in mapping out the universe of his mind, Panda Bear has created one of the most unusual and beautifully strange statements of the avant-garde. If Brian Wilson had heard this 40 years ago, it would have blown his mind.

    by Adam Webb