Animal Collective in robot alien costumes?

60 Watt Kid just released a new album called We Come From the Bright Side on Kosher Records. The verdict? A total Animal Collective rip-off. At first. And then it becomes some pure strange psych rock that gets you rolling and churning. They’ve gotten really close to perfecting the primal meets ethereal psych ideal. Oh, and there’s craze. Like oh my god where are you going this is hectic craze. All of that stuff. To some things up perfectly, the promo sticker for the album reads: “Recommended if you like: Animal Collective, drugs, science fiction.” The music is big in an “it goes there” way but there’s almost a fun humor to it, as you can see by the band’s similarities. Oh, and by their press picture:

Oh and their Myspace tagline? “ARE YOU NEW AGE? Yes… We’re New Age.”

Some later songs turn into keyboard driven screaming boy dance party a la Gravy Train. Skip those tracks (Emotions & Virtual Plastic Surgery). The rest of this is tasty!

YAWN

Okay, not quite a tropical adventure, per se, for there are no vines in this album but I swear I can hear monkeys hooting in the background. The album in question? Yawn‘s self-titled debut EP which sounds like a mix of Capybara, Animal Collective, and Vampire Weekend. Seriously. I think this album is the love-child of college radio. “Kind of Guy” is a catchy island tune that feels like yucky oh my gosh fun. Following that track is the perfect Animal Collective rip-off (I mean this in the best way possible), “David”. I love this one. Primal call-and-response style calling with simple percussion and the sounds of a rainforest in the background. Okay, I’m not sure if the rainforest is actually there but it’s kind of implied. Please go listen to this nowwwww! This is their myspace. David is on there and it is reallllly worth a listen. Also worth a listen? Everything on KZSC, including the shows that are gonna play the bazooka out of this.

Oh No Ono!

Another new favorite at the station is Oh No Ono with their lovely Danish psych pop. (The song “Swim” is making me completely blissfully nuts–listen to it here!) Apparently the Danish love this band. I’ve only just heard of them, but their new album “Eggs” is fantastic and will hopefully continue to be in heavy rotation here at the station.

Recently the quintet paired up with When Saints Go Machine to cover the biggest song of 2009: “My Girls” by none other than Animal Collective. Here’s a video of the craziness, which includes a multitude of toys and a good dash of crazy:

Thanks to Matthew from Terrorbird for linking me to this, and thanks to I’m the Internet for posting this at all!

FALL BE KIND

So, yep they did it. To us. Again. Through the heart? Maybe.

Animal Collective released a new collection of songs: their Fall Be Kind EP. As a long-time AC fan, it’s kind of easy for me to slip into really loving everything they do. However, their last album (Merriweather Post Pavillion) sort of threw me through one of those trials we have in romantic relationship; the “you’re still really cute but you’re getting seriously irritating” romantic trial that some of us might know all too well. Summertime Clothes? Undeniably catchy. My Girls? Good god this is summertime bliss! But it didn’t blow me out of the water. More importantly, it didn’t blow my head off with greatness, it didn’t rub my face in fleshy dirt the way Sung Tongs was capable of doing. So consider me, at this point, a skeptical yet still enamored fan.

The new EP? Compelling. Gorgeous. “Bleed” is the most wonderfully hypnotic song that I need to hear every morning that I need to hear late at night that a crazy night of storytelling is incomplete without. The whole EP draws out, brings me in, hypnotizes me, and brings me to that meditative state that only a good cup of distortion and repetition could take me to. The final verdict? A good move in the Animal Collective story. It’s possible that they hype can scare us all out of our skin at times, but there’s nothing like some good meditative noises and shouting to wash it out of our systems.