I’m conflicted about this new album from the psychedelic pop duo, made up of Panda Bear (Animal Collective) and Sonic Boom (Peter Kember of Spaceman 3). Not because of the music per se, but because of the hoops I had to jump through to actually listen to the damn thing.
You see, to combat streaming and “encourage real-world connection” (the duo’s statement), this album was released only in hard copy and paid digital format. I wasn’t going to order the hard copy to write this review, and when I found the digital code to buy it, I found it was sold out on Bandcamp and had been since it dropped a month ago. I searched for it online and found a few streams of scattered songs, but it wasn’t until I found the Panda Bear Reddit that I found a fan who had uploaded the entire thing on YouTube in (which I’ll link below). I guess this was kind of the point? To make it difficult to find the music?
The music itself is pretty grand, very Beach Boys psychedelia-coded, featuring steel drums, plucky harps, tabla, a bit of guitar, and thundering, heavy-on-the-toms drumming. The opener “Never givin’ in,” has that echoey vocal style, popularized by the dulcet harmonies of Brian Wilson. It’s hooky and pleasing, with just enough wackiness to stick in my mind. That is usually my experience listneing to Panda Bear. Can’t say the same for Spaceman 3. “Revive him” feels like being trapped in a funhouse, carnival sounds reverberating off the walls. “Something like dreaming” is very Revolver “Tomorrow Never Knows,” featuring reverse guitars and a hypnotic harp. The vocals are quite meditaitive as well.
I’m not sure I can agree with Panda Bear & Sonic Boom on the whole no streaming thing because it makes it diffcult to find new listeners, but I suppose with their influence, it doesn’t really matter. Still, this YouTube stream has its own little community, so I’ll pop it below.
