In spending these past few months listening to Animal Collective & their new record “Time Skiffs”, I’ve delved more into AC & their inspirations along with comparisons that have been made externally. One recurring theme I've been seeing a lot is the juxtaposition between them & The Beach Boys. Throughout this, I took to Spotify to rediscover The Beach Boys in hopes of connecting the dots between the two groups. Having a small sense of familiarity w/ them already & enjoying tracks such as “All I wanna do” along with their “Surfin’ USA” album, I didn’t find it at all hard to get into.
I then decided to resort to Pet Sounds & was instantly compelled by its complexity despite maintaining a sense of pop. I think it’s safe to say that when we think of the band, 60’s surf rock & “Californian Dream’ ideals come to mind- such as surfing, hot rods, & spending time by the beach. While this may be true in some cases listening through, it doesn’t take away from the albums strength’s compositionally & sonically.
With intricately layered harmonics & reverb that calls out to echoing sensorial remembrances, it’s without a doubt that this album now has a profound impact on me. My favorite track so far has been “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times''- a piece that’s perfect for looking to the future of summer & it’s synonymous occurrences like sand-riddled toes, the smell of surf wax in the air, & zero bad days.
