Animal Collective has had a wild and unpredictable career in music, achieving universal critical acclaim without ever settling for an industry standard of success. They continually out-weird everyone in both sound and image — yet somehow manage to keep their stuff grounded, catchy, and always listenable.
Their latest effort, 2012’s Centipede Hz was a dazzling display of anxiety, impatience and sonic schizophrenia — it bounces off the walls of the padded room the band has created for itself, unsure what to do with the constant flow of ideas pouring from their collective mind. “Monkey Riches” is one of the album’s brighter spots, an example of AC’s confounding ability to make riffs like the one here — an electronic twitch of accidental notes and blips — get stuck in your head. As Avey Tare calls out into the darkness, “why am I still looking for the golden age,” the feeling of an ambition so intense it turns into stress has never felt so real.
The video, of course, has nothing to do with these feelings whatsoever. Sure, maybe in some symbolic sense you can find some links between the rope-charmer invalid and the “emerald house” referenced in the song, but it’s better treated as a look into the band’s own special definition of narrative. They’ve dabbled in film before, but this video actually has characters, scenes, and drama! But don’t worry. There are plenty of rope-monsters, glowing tunnels, and psychedelia for the die-hards out there.
The band has also rescheduled a slew of previously delayed North American tour dates. Check out their schedule (including some shows* with Dan Deacon) below:
9/6 — Portland, OR @ MusicFest NW *
9/7 — Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
9/8 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Depot
9/9 — Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
9/11 — Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
9/14 — Mexico City, MX @ Ceremonia Festival
10/16 — Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theatre
10/17— Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
10/20 — San Francisco, CA @ Treasure Island Festival
10/21 — Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
10/22 — Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee
10/24 — Kansas City, MO @ Midland Theater
10/25 — St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
10/26 — Asheville, NC @ Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit
10/27 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/28 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
12/1 — Washington, D.C. @ 930 Club
12/2 — Portland, ME @ The State Theatre
12/4 — Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Hall
12/5 — Covington, KY @ Madison Theater
12/6 — Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
12/8 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
