Animal Collective’s ninth studio album Centipede Hz was built on anticipation. It is the follow-up album to the four-piece New York band’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, an album which gained incredible critical acclaim. Anticipation of Centipede Hz has thus been nagging at long-time Animal Collective fans since news broke of the band writing new songs almost immediately after Merriweather’s release, and this expectation shows in the band’s new music.
The album itself begins with a countdown, and almost immediately explodes into the violent blast of the opening song “Moonjock.” The song and album are a definite departure from Animal Collective’s previous release—the band effectively abandons their house and trance influences for chaotic songs filled with tribal drumming, walls of electric guitars and shouted vocals. Some of these elements are not new to Animal Collective. Strawberry Jam, the band’s 2007 release, feels like a natural precursor. With this in mind, Centipede Hz fits naturally into the band’s catalogue, but not necessarily as a standout album.
Centipede Hz’s main problem is its lack of focus. The opening track “Moonjock“ suggests a noisy and fast paced album with little control, and revolves around jagged bursts of guitar and singer Avey Tare pushing his vocals to breaking point. Other songs such as “Wide Eyed” and “Rosie Oh“ feature chiming, clean guitars and some of the calmest vocals the band has ever released. These are two sides of the band’s sound that do not play to their strengths, as Animal Collective typically sounds their best with soaring melodies and massive vocal harmonies, something which is barely present in this album.
The album has its highlights however, such as the songs “Applesauce” and “New Town Burnout.” These two songs both feature some of the clearest production on the album, allowing the band’s songwriting to come to the forefront. “Applesauce“ sounds like a nursery rhyme as performed by Talking Heads, and “New Town Burnout” injects some of the album’s manic energy into a more structured guitar-based song. These songs only fuel your frustration however, as they are the only ones on the album that make use of the band’s strengths.
In a recent interview Pitchfork, Animal Collective’s Josh Dibb set the tone for the reception of Centipede Hz by claiming that “it was going to be harder for people to get their heads around.” Even when approaching it with an open mind, Centipede Hz feels inaccessible and estranging on purpose. The album fails to find a central idea or cohesive sound, and shifts instrumentation and lyrical themes so fast that the listener is given no time to concentrate. Centipede Hz consistently compromises Animal Collective’s obvious strengths in songwriting for experimentation, most of which leads to nothing redeeming. As a whole, Centipede Hz is an incoherent mess, although certain songs are worth a listen.
