Review By Chris Nowling: Heaping praise on indie superstars Animal Collective is starting to seem too easy, unnecessary even. Don’t get me wrong; AC have earned their status as the preeminent boundary-pushing experimental group working today. This past year alone they released 2009’s best album and my personal favorite of theirs, Merriweather Post Pavilion. But the announcement of their Fall Be Kind EP almost prompted me to just say, “It’s Animal Collective, of course it’s amazing." Listen to it, love it, and then we’ll all move on. And if Fall Be Kind was just “good,” or even great in exactly the same way the LP that preceded it was great, maybe I could settle with that generalization. But in keeping with tradition, Animal Collective has crafted another distinctly superb and somehow progressive set of songs, noteworthy for its own merits and not simply as another strong addition to the band’s remarkable catalog.

Fall Be Kind arrives 11 months after Animal Collective's landmark Merriweather, and it's clear the band intended to give it that distance. While the EP certainly continues some of the stylistic avenues that ran through Merriweather, the five new tracks collectively are a singular unit. Initially, the EP actually seems to borrow from the band’s earlier releases, especially on the meandering introduction, which takes up the first half of excellent opener “Graze” and might have sequenced comfortably on 2003's Sung Tongs. Even the back half of "Graze," which is more feverish and upbeat, contains echoes of 2007’s rough and energetic Strawberry Jam. Yet the odd pairing of the two parts combined—along with warmer, more refined production and a heightened sense of joyful exploration—would make the song feel out of place pretty much anywhere but here, where it serves as a perfect preface to the rest of the EP.

The most telling sign of progress here is this EP’s lead single and widely considered standout track, “What Would I Want Sky.” Notable for its use of the first ever authorized Grateful Dead sample (a spliced vocal loop from Jerry Garcia), the song stands apart from anything Animal Collective has previously offered. With the relatively simple, clear instrumental selection and pleasant, easygoing vibe, 'Sky' is probably the band’s most accessible song to date, considering even the lengthy ambient intro and mind-boggling time signature—a tribute to the band’s ability to mold unusual and often disparate ideas into something approachable and extraordinarily catchy. Even if the tune remains at odds with everything the band releases in the future, it’s more evidence that this group of musicians is at the top of their game and in complete control of their creative powers, unafraid to explore and consistently being rewarded for their adventurousness.

Last Word: Another distinctive and fantastic collection of tunes that showcases Animal Collective’s considerable talent.

Review By:
Chris Nowling

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