Strawberry Jam
by Animal Collective

Album details

US: 11 September 2007 on Domino
UK: 10 September 2007 on Domino

The odd, Brooklyn-based indie four-piece led by Avey Tare and Panda Bear return with a follow-up to 2005’s "Feels."

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The critical consensus

While Strawberry Jam may, like its predecessor, continue to push Animal Collective down the road toward accessibility (in that there are elements like "verses" and "choruses"), this is Animal Collective we’re talking about: they still have a ways to go to get there. "Strawberry Jam is never inaccessible, but will be recommended for anyone who likes music as a Chinese puzzle," summarizes the BBC. Billboard agrees that the Collective’s music is still challenging: "The substantial, fun and worthwhile ‘Strawberry Jam’ on the whole gives off as much energy as it takes to listen to it, which is to say, a lot." Likewise, MusicOMH concludes, "Strawberry Jam doesn’t promise to be something for everyone, but it will certainly please those with an ear for the strange and surreal." Prefix, however, indicates that there is indeed something for everyone: "Rare is the album that’s able to expand an established band’s fan base while completely satisfying the cult of early flag planters, but Strawberry Jam has that chance." And Treble notes the progression of AC’s music: "While the manic screams and dense ambient waves have all but vanished, in their place are sounds sublime and transcendent. "

"Divine pop music," is the label given by Drowned In Sound, and No Ripcord calls it "2007’s strongest album so far." Delusions of Adequacy also has nothing but praise for the disc, which it deems "an astute, entrancing deconstruction of pop music." Pitchfork assigns a rare 9.3 rating to the album, while Paste calls Jam their "most lucid album yet," and All Music Guide hails it as "the most primal yet most sophisticated record AC have done to date." Amazon concludes, "Animal Collective’s irreverence, absurdity, openness, and sheer melodic prowess conspire to produce yet another exceptional album." And CMJ opines, "In terms of individual raw moments of genius, Strawberry Jam trails both Tongs and 2005’s Feels. But as a defining statement and cohesive effort, this is their strongest record yet."

It’s hard to find any real detractors of the album among the community of critics, although Tiny Mix Tapes does point out that a few of Jam’s tracks are "grating" and Lost At Sea feels that the whole album is just too much, and the band’s "aspirations come off as bland and blurry." Similarly, Aversion finds that the album is "torn asunder in the tension" of moving in many directions at once as a result of trying to offer something for everyone. Stylus calls Jam "a long, exhausting listen," and the Village Voice similarly notes that while "the peaks are high," the music is sluggish: "On earlier albums like Here Comes the Indian and Sung Tongs, their ideas flew past at a pace both furious and infuriating; now, they stagnate and crawl." The Wire feels that there are "reasons for detractors to raise their voices and for devotees to hope for something a little more evolved," but at least the mixed result is a "compelling stumble."

Animal Collective sound like the aural equivalent of a kaleidoscope, or of wandering through a bright, clamorous fairground where all ambient noise, colour and light bleeds into a glorious, dazzling whole.

- David Peschek, The Guardian

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Peacebone
   
   
2. Unsolved Mysteries
3. Chores
4. For Reverend Green
5. Fireworks
6. #1
7. Winter Wonder Land
8. Cuckoo
9. Derek

Also on the web

• Paw Tracks
• Animal Collective @ MySpace