Animal Collective

Strawberry Jam - Domino Records Sometimes a group comes along that is so ahead of their time that it takes a while before they receive any kind of mainstream recognition at all, This is the case for Animal Collective. They seem to have taken Brian Wilson's erratic experimentation period and driven it up the street and around the corner. Strawberry Jam is the eighth full length album release from this very prolific group (they have also put out many EPs, and singles as well as solo projects from individual band members). And with each release their craft seems to get more and more polished.

Animal Collective has traditional rock instrumentation with guitar, bass and drums and they also have a member, Brian Weitz, aka the Geologist who works the samplers, tape loops and whatever else is needed. Strawberry Jam, is noisy but not in an abrasive way and it just seems to have interesting samples and loops that pop up, later to vanish on the middle of a song and may or may not return. Animal Collective is one of the most vital groups of the decade and their fans have an obsessive devotion that is like the following that the Grateful Dead generated with live recordings being passed from fan to fan. Strawberry Jam may be their best record to date and if you want to see what the future of pop music may look like give it a listen. ¦