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Review
The world Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, inhabits has changed remarkably since the release of his previous solo LP, Person Pitch. Back then, in 2007, Animal Collective – the band he co-founded in 1999 – were still a cult concern, their Strawberry Jam album about to collect a clutch of critical acclaim but make barely a dent upon the mainstream. It, alongside Person Pitch (album of the year on Pitchfork), did a good job of cleaning up the year-end plaudits. But it wasn’t until 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavilion that the Baltimore-born outfit truly connected with a wider audience, their eighth studio set breaking the Billboard top 20 and reaching the dizzy heights of 26 on this side of the pond.
But the musical landscape Lennox strides so confidently across really hasn’t evolved all that much – Tomboy, solo long-player number four, builds on the summery vibes of its predecessor but doesn’t go so far as to truly break virgin ground. Titles like Slow Motion, Surfer’s Hymn and Drone are perfectly indicative of the content here, and will be pleasingly familiar to followers (old and new) of Lennox’s sublime drift-scapes. From Beach Boys melodies to mellifluous vocals which sink and simmer in a mix so luxurious to bathe in it would be heavenly, it’s full of prerequisites that point the way towards an experience comparably pleasant to that provided by Person Pitch.
Where Tomboy differs is in its dividing lines – rather than seven tracks with a couple of 12-minute epics, here Lennox lays out a sequence of 11 shorter, standalone arrangements, less focus on a single-sit-down listen and one eye, certainly, on the cherry-picking nature of today’s downloading audience. Not that this offering is without its longer moments of full-body immersion: Friendship Bracelet is a stunning six-minute shimmer which entices with warm vocals atop chirruping tropical percussion, and the following Afterburner ups the tempo to New Order (circa Technique) levels, 80s synths pulsing away at the core of a track peppered liberally with busy beats.
Drone does just that, magically, Lennox stretching lazy vocals across hums and whirs which sound like one of those teenybopper hits slowed down into something approaching a celestial wonder on YouTube. Slow Motion sloshes about as if its maker’s toes are dipped in a crystal-clear sea; and Last Night at the Jetty throbs delicately with a lovely sigh in its lyrical step. And while much here can be summarised as more of the same, when Lennox’s natural quality control operates at such an admirable standard, that’s precisely why Tomboy is such a chilled-out triumph.
--Mike Diver
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sleepy Panda,
By
This review is from: Tomboy (Audio CD)
`Tom Boy' really is a lazy Sunday morning of an album, like most of us it takes the best part of a quarter of an hour to move through the gears and really get going. The good news is that when it finally wakes up it opens it's eyes to a glorious, distinctly tropical new day.So the first three songs constitute little more than a stretch and a yawn of sleepy beats and repetitive Beach Boys harmonising - they barely register for me, pleasant enough though unmemorable. It is at this point I should admit that I sit on the Avey Tare side of Animal Collective's very own McCartney vs Lennon type debate. Just like Paul I find Noah's compositions can edge towards the cosy, the twee, perhaps even entering slightly trad pop territory thanks to those vocals, while I find Portner's material to be generally more direct, wilder, sometimes excitingly freakish. This is not to say that I can't appreciate Lennox's approach and this release does contain some of his best ever moments. `Alsatian Darn', particularly the second half, and the lengthy `Afterburner' are both strong tracks that envelop you slowly, eventually drawing you into their expansive tropical soundscapes. This is certainly an album to close your eyes and immerse yourself in. `Scheherezade' is another winner, an Eno influence is in evidence here - it is a simply beautiful and otherworldly moment of meditative calm. There are also a couple of more straightforward songs to enjoy - `Surfer's Hymn' opens with the sound of the tide lapping on the shore and what sound like heavily layered and sped up wind chimes, and the adorable `Last night at the Jetty' which is built around by far the most addictive vocal performance on the album. The problem is that around every corner is a stretch of music where I start thinking `not a lot actually going on here' and my attention starts to wander - it might be on the seemingly never ending formless vocals and bird sounds/monkey calls (?) on `Friendship Bracelet', it might be listening to the meandering harmonising of the closing `Benefica', nothing so unappealing as to shock you out of the experience and break the spell but enough to take a little gloss off `Tom Boy'. For Animal Collective fans this is a must and anyone who enjoyed `Person Pitch' should also find much to enjoy here - Panda Bear wakes you up gently into his world and it is certainly a pleasant place to find yourself in, although not so wondrous as to guarantee you won't ever start drifting off and dreaming of leaving for adventures new.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A serious piece of work. Well worth the wait.,
By Basil Nasrajar (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tomboy [VINYL] (Vinyl)
A gigantic masterpiece for 2011. Works on so many levels and has such a beautiful form. Thanks, Noah! -- Take your time again with the next one. It's worth it. Sonic Boom didn't muck it up.My pre-order arrived as a ltd edition clear DMM vinyl gatefold. There's a superb locked-groove at the end of Side B.
2 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
here we go again,
By
This review is from: Tomboy (Audio CD)
Good tunes absolutely ruined by dreadfull production.I defy anyone to understand any of the lyrics. Must have had the echo chamber on double echo,just like Person Pitch. I won't get fooled again into buying another Panda Bear album. Dreadfull.
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