Album Review: Animal Collective - Centipede Hz

It's a given that Centipede Hz won't meet the expectations that have been lathered over its inception ever since Animal Collective hit paydirt with 2008's Merriweather Post Pavilion. But it's doubtful that they're particularly concerned. The childhood friends have spent over a decade creating weirdo sounds for themselves, intent on never making the same record twice, and Centipede Hz faithfully sticks to this notion. Many recent converts will want more MPP and not get it. The rest are bound to be in genre-defying heaven.

Centipede Hz is, first and foremost, a fun record in the most feverish, sweat-drenched, acid trip sense. The record kicks off with Moonjock, a desperate purge of intent, all static and abrasive percussion, before the candy explosion of Todays Supernatural blows the cobwebs out in spectacular fashion. Wide Eyed offers the psychedelic stomp mantra conventions that Animal Collective embodies so well, whilst the skittering wooziness of New Town Burnout is infused with uncharacteristic melancholy. Each song is incredibly busy, layered with so much off-kilter and frenetic instrumentation that the blissful nature of MPP is but a distant memory. Tare's warped, yelping vocal delivery dominates throughout, bouncing from euphoria (Todays Supernatural) to frantic (Monkey Riches) and the return of Deakin's guitar to the fold is an incessant highlight.

Centipede Hz is ablaze with noise and aggression, confusion and bluster, yet it's indelibly an Animal Collective album, infused with starry-eyed wonder. They sign off with Amanita, an otherworldly mantra that promises more unearthly delights to come as Avey Tare chants “I'm gonna come back and things will be different/I'm gonna bring back some stories again” before they melt away into the ether.