Reset - Panda Bear & Sonic Boom: Review
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom
are a pair of musicians who have been rumored collaborators for years leading up to this debut collaborative album from the two. Panda Bear is most well known as a member of psych pop group Animal Collective and has released solo albums with production from Sonic Boom in the past. Since founding the space rock group Spacemen 3 in the 80's Sonic Boom has provided production to a number of notable albums in the realm of indie music.
Review by Lav:
At a few points throughout this year I've called in Animal Collective's comeback year and most of that obviously has to do with their very good new album but I think it goes deeper than that. From a newfound presence of sounds clearly influenced by their music to a newfound respect for the individual members and their respective projects, there's actually quite a lot working for the group. Reset was a chance to send that into overdrive if Panda could release another fantastic project and while it isn't quite that good, I do find the material here to be enjoyable much more often than not.
Let's talk singles first because they're probably still the two best songs on the album. Go On came first and really stuck with me. The catchy refrains and contrast between Panda's sweeter refrains and the methodical chanting behind him are all just excellent. Edge Of The Edge might be even better and it's by far the biggest piece of Beatles worship on the album. I love the icy synths and almost Christmas-ish percussion. Once again it's the lead refrains combined with the backing vocals that really sell me on the song.
In contrast songs like In My Body and Danger take a bit more of s reserved approach that is minimal but only by comparison. Body is certainly going to remind AnCo fans of some of Deakin's solo material and it serves as a change of pace on the album's first half that I find very welcome. Danger on the other hand sticks around for almost 6 minutes but makes good use of the plucky strings and glittery chimes as well as serving up some restrained vocals that work quite well.
The best deep cut is the closing track Everything's Been Leading To This which certainly lives up to its name. Even if it isn't quite as catchy moment to moment it has one of the best compositions on the record. The way the song swells and develops across its runtime is not only super enjoyable but a great way to end things off.
By comparison, the intro Gettin To The Point is much simpler. It's what you'd expect coming into the album but it doesn't really do anything that isn't done better on many other tracks. Also hearing Panda Bear backed by flamenco instrumentation on the track Livin In The After is kind of weird. It's not quite as much of a disaster as you might imagine and there are elements of it I actually really enjoy but I wouldn't call the song a highlight.
Speaking of kooky instrumental choices Everyday serves up some wiggly synths and claps in its backing instrumentation. While I think the song itself is okay I'm not crazy about the near monotone vocals and it really does beat its most charming elements to death throughout the course of the song. Whirlpool is the one more reserved track that I'm not crazy about primarily because I find the refrains to be so painfully uninteresting. There is something about the instrumental that is kind of bouncy and lively but overall I'm not a big fan of it.
Reset is kind of a mixed bag all things considered but one with more hits than misses. While I'm not sure what exactly the creative dynamic behind the collaboration was, ultimately it just sounds like another Panda Bear album. Certainly a more classic pop-inspired direction than his last solo album but nothing that wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility. That's why I'm comfortable saying that like a lot of solo Panda Bear material I like this album, but don't love it. Though I would recommend it as extra credit listening for anyone who enjoyed Time Skiffs earlier this year. 7/10
This cover is a really cool example of using only simple graphics to make a dynamic image. I enjoy the sense of depth it has and the colors used all compliment each other well. It's a little hard to make out what exactly it is and you'll need time to look at it and take it all in. Covers like this are sometimes really well received but other times people don't like that it can look too corporate. This has a nice balance without going over the top, it gets the job done. 7/10
