PANDA BEAR - PERSON PITCH (2007)

BEACH BOYS ON A HEALTHY REVERB WAVE OF NOISE
ARTIST`````PANDA BEAR
ALBUM`````PERSON PITCH
GENRE`````EXPERIMENTAL, INDIE, POST-ROCK
YEAR````````2007

WHY:
Since everybody is talking about it... This is not as good as everybody is annoyingly screaming. It's original and quite good but not "revolutionary" as many in the blogosphere are saying. A really good album but that's it. The more experimental Beach Boys records still rule.

ALBUM REVIEW:
Starting an album with a clattering of industrial rhythms sliding into a huge clap-and-stompalong with angelic vocals and what sounds like the Brotherhood of Man on a vocal loop tip not far removed from Suicide or Laurie Anderson is one way to make a mark. The fact that Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox himself, sings like Brian Wilson and produces his voice to sound like it is another, though it has to be said that it just makes his Animal Collective membership all the more clear at this point. Person Pitch is very much an end product of a variety of musical trends in whatever can be called indie rock in the early 21st century -- big-sounding, absolutely dedicated to texture and sonic playfulness, and somehow aiming to make a lot of interesting ideas seem kinda flat.

Still, the sweetness is almost too gooey, and what should be providing a healthy contrast ends up dragging the best instrumental moments down more than once, almost literally getting in the way of the striking sonic collages. It may be heresy to some, but conceivably Person Pitch would be at its best if it were strictly instrumental.

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