Released: 2016

Genres: Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop, Indietronica

The Musiquarium’s Painting With Review Score: 4 out of 10

With the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective was one of the biggest indie bands in the world, thanks to a string of strong albums and rave reviews from publications like Pitchfork. Its follow-up, Centipede Hz., was decent enough, but failed to capitalize on the band’s momentum, ending their streak of great albums, but compared to Painting With, Centipede Hz. was a masterpiece.

FloriDada and Bagels in Kiev are two of the better songs on the album, but even those tracks can’t be saved by the band’s worst impulses. Painting With is what Animal Collective must sound like to people who hate Animal Collective. The call and response vocals are torturous on the ears, and the songs are mostly filled with obnoxious effects. Gone is the nuance and beauty of Sung Tongs and Feels, or the tasteful neo-psychedelic experimentalism of Strawberry Jam and MPP.

Painting With is one of the worst listening experiences I’ve ever had from a once great band. I guess I’ll just keep re-listening to their old stuff.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Animal Collective on Discogs.

Back to the 2016 Album Guide or the Animal Collective Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard