Notes on tomboy by panda bear

Oso panda, tomboy, finally reviewing it well I heard it first on NPR and also when Noah was the DJ at NPR. Anyway if you don't know who panda bear is (where have you been) he is the lead singer of Animal Collective, an amazing experimental-indie rock band, (and if you don't know them, now is the time to familiarize yourself) otherwise known as Noah Lennox. He is one of the many geniuses behind the new electro-pop revival through the indie rock scene. He is really cool and he recorded the album tomboy from his basement down in Lisbon. He then sent it to his buds Josh and Dave of Animal Collective but they were busy. Peter Kember, the guy who produced the album Congratulations of the MGMT fame (a really good album back and forth) mixed the album for him and it worked out pretty well. Now that thats out of the way here are my thoughts and recollections of the songs.

You Can Count on Me: The beginning is very strange, the atmosphere is full of echoes and clicks of words and ramblings from radio or TV the music is very watery and is being compressed by air. The vocals say something about not able to be trusted or counted on for some odd reason and thats kind of strange to say. There are a lot of processed guitars and other unfamiliar instruments. The style is really unique because it feels very young, happy, yet strange, and it paints a landscape a really wide landscape of sound, Its a short but sweet 2 minutes.
2. Tomboy: This is the first single and essentially the reason the album came to be. This song starts off with the melodious pipe synth and solid continuous drum beat. The song can basically summarize the sound the album has overall. In fact when he was recording and while replaying his songs he said they all sounded like the song tomboy so the name sticked. If you like the thought of marriage in space this is the theme song for you.
3. Slow Motion: The beat is very chill, its a bit moody here and there and the beat seems to be off by a bit. The processed guitar is really catchy, its repetitive but thats a good under certain circumstances. The vocals are very soothing and they feel smooth and lullabying (whether it&s a word or not). Its a great song my favorite actually. The repetition is good because without it the song would sound really off beat.
4. Surfer's Hymn: The song starts off at the very silent aftermath of slow motion. Finally a wave crushes the silence and xylophone sounds start going at it. The vocals start and the echo is off by a few milliseconds. Waves continue to crash, but a new beat of fast drums starts. The vocals seem to change from relaxed to excited. The atmosphere is full of beach surroundings fun partying and just relaxing.
5. Last Night at the Jetty: More echoing drums, huge reverb coming from a bass drum, a bass drum that sounds enormous. The guitar has an indescribable sound, its slow, wanky, and seems splattered. There is still a chilly feel in the air, the vocals sound like a choir of Noahs
6. Drone: ahhhh!!! god my ears (i turned it up all the way) ok the first sound is the sound of a lazer/tazer/beam, the singing starts and the lazer/tazer/beam sound changes pitches. The feel of this song is a simple loneliness or left-behindness (word i made up). There arent many effects in this song so it sounds really thin and the atmosphere is very small. The lazer/tazer/beam sound keeps going and going and going for a whole minute until it finally ends.
7. Alsatian Darn: Theres an old west, cowboy feel to this song, very western. Maybe its the "drums" or the clapping. Maybe its the cool background voices or the processed guitar clicks that give it a "wild" feel. Its a good song stands out over the whole album as a different piece in the puzzle.
8. Scheherazade: Piano plays while the warm sounds of a summer evening plays the static in this song. The voice is very cold though. His vocals seem to be witness of a horrible accident that never left his presence. The clanking doesnt help resolve this feel it amplifies it. This is a sad song cold and wintery, compared to its background static.
9. Friendship Bracelet: Waves again, vibrating sounds coming from the synth or guitar and vocals with an occational jungle sound. Is it just me or do i hear this in almost all his songs? even on animal collective songs they have this little unique touch to it. Sounds like being in a jungle or something.
10. Afterburner: Sounds like a million Cicadas in the beginning. Then it gives way to a whole new sound. The sound is very tribal and synthical. The vocals give a chill feel to it. feels like a "running song" or rather you can imagine someone running to it away from danger or to rescue someone. There an album called afterburner (i stumbled upon it while looking up the song) and i also found out that an after burner is the part of a jet that causes the plane to take off faster by pumping fuel directly after the turbines (but anyway i got more stuff on my other blog) anyway the song afterburner, like those afterburner in jets, gives you a boost of energy when listening to it but it also creeps you out at times because of the jungle animals (not really). There is an animalistic feel to this though and this is probably the effects of working with animal colective.
11. Benfica: windy beginning. the vocals sound very processed, the synth atmosphere and the wind in the background all give way to the end. The end of an amazing album, with a modest song to end it, not to intense but very good. Its a song you listen to when you are about to sleep, or at least chill to if you arent going to sleep. Its a great song to listen to if you just came from work and you just wanna relax, of course unless you have kids and are trying to put them to sleep. Regardless the sound gives you a relaxing enviroment and ends the album in a calm fashion.

overall great album im sorry i didn't review this before but this is a great album i really like it and i think overall this album is panda bear's best. Though person pitch is a very very close second and i hardly doubt the two albums arent related by sound. i would like you to listen to it at least once and try to sink in its wonderful atmosphere and also listen to other works by panda bear and animal collective. I apologize for any typos I sometimes review on my phone and the blogger app sucks.

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