By Winslow Laroche

The Animal Collective isn’t just any band. They don’t fall in the usual genres society places on the bands of our time. This pugnacious group of New Yorkers doesn’t tread lightly and carry a big stick. They already passed that part and have embarked on a journey to refine the pop world with their eccentric sounds and whimsical lyrics. Their eighth full-length album “Strawberry Jam” gives rise to an age in which fun doesn’t end with age.

The album starts with the upbeat rock hit “Peacebone” and the excitement doesn’t stop there. Establishing the motives for their latest album, this first song alludes to childhood and the pure imagination that comes along with it. Listeners are asked to remember childhood dreams and the aspiration of something fantastic. But “Strawberry Jam” also looks back, proving that adulthood isn’t as great as once expected. As an adult, you long for a time when you weren’t worry about the present, but only what if. “Strawberry Jam” is a phantasmagoria in one album, involving all the works in a child’s head and how simple does equal good.

Despite speculation that they are simply a pop band with experimental overtones, Animal Collective go to great lengths on this album to disprove such allegations. Including a wide variety of electronica, pop and experimental tones, “Strawberry Jam” is far from what critics are calling “cacophony in pop form.” They are headed in a more melodic direction while still including their offbeat sounds like bands Air and Atmosphere. Animal Collective’s harsh tones are still there, but act like a wakeup call to listeners, assuring this isn’t a typical album – even for them.

The Animal Collective has also evolved as a band with strong vocals that rival the greats of our time. David Porter, known in the group as Avey Tare, channels musical bliss, displaying vocal range among the mayhem created by the Animal Collective. “Strawberry Jam” is an escape from cacophony into the imagination and beauty of music. It is the release needed from the outside world into controlled musical chaos.

The Animal Collective isn’t just any band. Wikipedia puts them in the genre of freak folk and their newest work certainly solidifies the idea that “freak folk” isn’t such a bad idea. Longtime listeners of the Animal Collective and newcomers alike will finally experience a complete album firsthand, one that truly contrasts the mundane lives which have become today’s norm.

(myspace.com/animalcollective)

4 Stars