Taking to his blog on the New Yorker’s website, music critic Sasha Frere-Jones reviews the Animal Collective’s live show, starting off by saying, “I suppose that if your parents never took you to the circus and you’ve never been to an actual dance club, Animal Collective might seem kinda hot.” He goes on to describe the band’s musical twists and turns, arguing that “I could love the band as much as their loyal fan base does if I heard some genuine [musical] synthesis. But, show after show, all I’ve seen and heard are gestures. The noises are spiky enough to be better than nothing, but they don’t bowl me over with detail or texture, nor do they have the heft to produce a serious physical sensation. Their digital thump is dull, especially when compared to the programmed beats easily accessed by anybody with a computer or a radio, and the ’songs’ laid on top are too vague and echo-laden to pull me in, as feathered and smooth as Lennox’s voice is.”

Where he and the band accord, however, is in regards to the group’s stage set up: “Their stage presentation, though, is great visual shtick.” Hm.

1. Sasha Frere-Jones to Write Book on Michael Jackson
2. Animal Collective – “Peacebone”
3. Animal Collective Releasing “Brothersport” Single On Long Neglected Format: The 10″
4. New M.I.A. Album Sounding Like Gucci Mane/Animal Collective Hybrid
5. Animal Collective to Reissue Campfire Songs, Sneak S’mores