“Tomboy,” the upcoming record release from Panda Bear (due out April 19) has been generating quite the buzz in the indie music scene.
Ever since Panda Bear released his 2007 album, the critically worshiped “Person Pitch,” fans have been waiting in anticipation of what was coming next. Thanks to Animal Collective’s widely praised and commercially successful 2009 release “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” there have been more fans than ever. As Panda Bear was the lead vocalist on two of the three singles preceding “Merriweather” (“My Girls” and “Brother Sport”) it’s no wonder why fans have such high expectations for “Tomboy.”
Panda’s approach to releasing and promoting “Tomboy” is similar to the one he took with “Person Pitch.” He released the first half of the record over time by releasing four singles prior to the album’s release. Since the album releases in only a few weeks, the singles have all been released at this point. So far there have been singles released for the songs “Tomboy,” “You Can Count on Me,” “Last Night at the Jetty” and “Surfer’s Hymn,” all with B-sides.
The “Tomboy” single is split with the B-side “Slow Motion.” The vocals are clearly the most prominent layer in all of the songs. On the song “Tomboy,” Panda Bear shrieks lyrics such as “take my life” and “no matter what it takes/take my life so high/keep my life alive” that are immediately catchy. When the delayed harmonizing vocals aren’t there, “Tomboy” is all about the distorted guitar riding the beat that’s broken up with whip cracks and samples of vomiting. “Slow Motion” is a much more beat-focused affair. A loop reminiscent of something you might hear on a J Dilla album is dropped throughout the entire track, giving the song a vibe that ends up being a mixture of chill and serious.
“You Can Count on Me” might be the strongest of the singles. The beat is more triumphant than that of the others – think “We Will Rock You” by Queen. Judging from the album cover, which depicts an infant sitting on a man’s shoulders, this song could be referring to Panda’s son, who was born around a year ago. In contrast to the somberness of “You Can Count on Me,” the B-side “Alsatian Darn” is a complete banger. The song bursts into its beat almost immediately with the guitars backing the powerful melody sung by Panda Bear. The beat progresses and evolves over time, as do the catchy lyrics. The song closes with the lines “Say can’t I make a bad mistake, say what it is I want to say to you, say what?” over and over and over. If you can hear this song just one time you might hear yourself beginning to sing along in a similar way to how you did with the refrain “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things” from “My Girls.”
The third single, “Last Night at the Jetty,” is comprised of the title track and B-Side “Drone.” “Jetty” kicks in with a pounding beat that, depending on your speaker quality, sounds either like cannons going off or someone dribbling a basketball in an empty stadium. There are super-phased out guitars and handclaps on every fourth beat. The song breaks in the middle for some epic bass sampling over Panda’s harmonized, looping vocals. “Drone,” on the other hand, is a slow song without any beat. There is also a synth that is held throughout the track and only changes one tone at a time in conjunction with Panda’s singing.
“Surfer’s Hymn” is the most recent single to be released. The single is divided between the title track and a remix by electro musician Actress. “Surfer’s Hymn” is probably the most familiar-sounding track in Panda’s catalog. The synths sound similar to the one’s found on “Merriweather Post Pavilion” and the song itself has much more of a “Person Pitch” vibe than any of the other songs. There aren’t any guitars, but the beat is in full force from the start. The B-side remix is nice, but cuts out very early.
While it is nice to hear new songs from anything Animal Collective-related, it is a little strange that these songs don’t feel quite up to par. The lyrics seem to be the most important factor in every track, yet they are muddled by effects. In nearly every track, something feels like it is missing in one way or another.
Perhaps Panda Bear has felt this as well, for when “Tomboy” is released these tracks will sound completely different. Sonic Boom of the band Spacemen 3, and the producer of last year’s MGMT sleeper hit “Congratulations” has taken the role of not only producing but also doing additional recording for Panda’s songs. In a few weeks we’ll get to see if those gaps are filled.
Chris Gross can be reached at [email protected].
