It really doesn’t seem that long ago at all, but then again it never does. It only seems long when we actually live in the moment, which is counterintuitive because that is the moment where we are supposed to be most alive. All you have to do is blink and blam, now you’re older, you have all these bills to pay, taxes to worry about, adult relationships to balance, and if you’re not strong enough, the real world might actually break you. It is when life presents us with these issues that many resort to using drugs, alcohol, or we may even resort to wishing to return back to the careless nature of being young. Animal Collective has been a musical group whose career seems to live to explore this fine balance between childlike wonder and adulthood we all must walk.
Throughout their now ten-album career, this balance seemed to strike its perfect stride in their 2007 album, Strawberry Jam. Strawberry Jam starts with the simple word, “Bonefish,” and is followed with what can only be described as these little blasts of static that sound like worms trying to scramble through damp soil to land where they will probably dry up the next day. As this is going on, Panda Bear’s drum comes thudding in like a heartbeat. From there the album takes off down a long twisty road of vibrant sonic surrealism that it never really comes back from, thankfully.
“Unsolved Mysteries” follows “Peacebone” and serves as one of the two freak folk tracks on the album, the other being “Winter Wonderland,” with “Unsolved Mysteries” being the better of the two. Here Avey Tare is dropping little nuggets of lyrical candy with lines like, “Why must we move on from such happy lawns. Into nostalgia’s palm and feed on the traces,” over a bubbling, tremolo-driven acoustic backdrop.
“Chores” is the first Panda Bear vocal driven song, and it rushes here and back like a mother running back and forth trying to clean up after her hyperactive child. Here, Panda Bear is echoing back to the days of childlike innocence where our biggest problems in the world were not being able to play until our chores finished. The bipolar nature found between Panda Bear and Avey Tare seems to be another key attribute working in Strawberry Jam’s favor. You go from the playful reverb nature of Panda Bear vocals to Avey Tare literally screaming at you on the next track, “For Reverend Green.” This may seem a little jarring to some but this is very reminiscent of the feelings of a child. One minute you’re happy, the next minute you’re sad, and then you’re pissed off and you can’t explain it.
“For Reverend Green,” “Fireworks,” and “#1” serve as the centerpiece for Strawberry Jam. “For Reverend Green” starts off with a sample from a bigfoot documentary pitched down a couple octaves and then the tremolo driven guitar chords come in and Avey Tare drops some of his most vivid lyrics to date and the song builds into one climatic yelp. “Fireworks” follows the same basic formula as “For Reverend Green,” but the guitars are a little more Feels-esque and the lyrics/vocal delivery are more upbeat. The hook on this track is one I often find myself singing out loud like a crazy person from time to time: “I’ve been eating with a good friend. Who said ‘a genie made me out of the earth’s skin.’”
Then comes the underrated hypnotic synth gem “#1.” Panda Bear and Avey Tare’s vocal clashes here are the definition of enthralling. This song sounds like a conversation a father would have with his son. Avey Tare assumes the role of the father figure telling his son (Panda Bear) in a pitched down booming voice, “I know there will be times, you wonder why it can’t stay simple.” Throughout the song Panda Bear is chanting this childlike mantra, “I won’t waste time, I won’t waste mine.” This song is very powerful, not only in its simplicity, but also in the fact that it can bring us back to the days where we turned to our parents for words of wisdom.
The next standout track happens to be probably not only the standout track of the album, but definitely a contender with “Alvin Row” and “Banshee Beat” as one of the best songs in Animal Collective’s entire discography. “Cuckoo Cuckoo” is a complex song that features a swirling and drifting piano bit along with little disruptions of controlled chaos. Avey Tare’s vocal delivery and lyrics are at its most passionate and poignant on this track. The song is often said to be about a miscarriage, which adds gravity to the song with lines like “I lost my boy” and “I Can’t hold what’s in my hand,” when Avey Tare shrieks here it is almost like he is hopelessly begging to have this person back so they can experience all the beauty and wonder that comes with being alive. “Derek” seems to serve as the calmness after the storm that is “Cuckoo Cuckoo.” The song is a playful little jingle about a boy and his dog; it really bookends the album together nicely.
With a band that seems to pride itself on its ability to change its sound from album to album, Strawberry Jam stands on its own as a true testament of what Animal Collective’s music is and represents. Strawberry Jam is the musical equivalent of being wrapped up in your favorite childhood blanket and having your mom read you a bedtime story filled with all sorts of ideas, places, and creatures that we could only really wonder about because we have yet to experience them firsthand. Strawberry Jam is playful, colorful, imaginative, surreal, hypnotic, nostalgic, real, and joyful, but above all it is Animal Collective’s most fully realized and cohesive album to date.
