Animal Collective
Centipede Hz
(Domino Recording Co.)

The experimental psychedelica has gotten even more experimental and psychedelic on Animal Collective’s new album, Centipede Hz. It’s the kind of album really hardcore fans will love to say is the band’s best and casual fans will shut off.  The songs are pretty varied, at times becoming muddled, like their first single “Today’s Supernatural,” which hits the mark, while keeping it weird. Others, like “Monkey Riches,” fall short and border on abrasive. The more avant-garde edge to the music might be a reaction to 2009’s poppy Merriweather Post Pavilion, which introduced a host of indie hipsters to the band, both helping and hurting their credibility.

The album sounds a bit like kids playing in a musically muddy, electronic sandbox with a bunch of influences that surface, like Pink Floyd. And like Floyd, the album is more of a piece unto itself than a collection of songs. The album also marks the return of bandmate Deakin (Josh Dibb) who sings lead for the first time on “Wide Eyed,” which is one of the stronger tracks on the album thanks to its relative simplicity and straight-forwardness. Ultimately, Centipede Hz comes off feeling a bit lost, like a live show that’s fun to experience, but doesn’t sound so great on tape the day after.