One of the rare bands I have just completely gone off. My tastes change all the time, but I donāt normally actively dislike a band that I used to really like.
Animal Collective are a big exception. I used to really like them, especially around the MPP period, but I just cannot stand them now. I donāt know why it is. Heard a track this morning on the radio and it just set my teeth in edge. 2.
4 for me. Theyāve fallen off a cliff since MWP, but great run of records before thenā¦ although Panda Bear and Avery Tare have both released decent solo albums since MWP.
Think they really struggled with the step up to playing to big festival crowds. The smaller gigs they did around the release of MPP were pretty good, but that really didnāt translate to the big stage. They kept their knotty approach to playing their songs, often teasing out the hits without properly dropping them, and there werenāt even many visuals beyond the torch strapped to Geologistās head. Which seemed like a missed opportunity and out of step with what youād expect with the band and their colourful image. It was a head scratching experience for a big fan, so for casuals it must have been incredibly off-putting.
Avoided their festival sets for a long time after that, but caught the end of their Primavera set for Painting With and it seemed like theyād addressed a lot of the issues, as others have suggested up threadā¦
For what itās worth, I still absolutely adore the run of ST, Feels, SJ and MPP. The EPs from that run are wonderful as well. MPP and Feels are two of my all-time favourite albums.
If Iām giving a 5 to MBV for two great albums, I can give a 5 to AC for four of the things.
It feels like they realised theyād peaked after thatā¦
when theyāre good theyāre very very good. caught them at the art school years ago and the light show was excellent, felt like i was tripping.
4 for me.
Love My Girls, like everyone else. Never liked the albums I listened to and I saw them at that terrible Green Man performance. I generally donāt like that kind of late 00s / early 10s US indie sound, I just donāt get it, so not surprising that AC never caught on.
Agree with the general consensus that the run from ST up to and including MPP (and a couple of the singles after that) was a great thing to experience as a fan. Felt like every release was just getting better and better (though in hindsight I think Feels was probably their peak - a good mix of the weirdy beardy stuff and their more direct stuff) and it felt genuinely strange/exciting seeing a band like them getting a fair bit of exposure in 2009.
For all that people used to talk about their weirdness and experimentation, their real key quality in my view was the fact they could take all that but attach it to some of the catchiest tunes going. For Reverend Green remains one of my favourite songs to listen to really LOUD.
Slim pickings post-MPP, but I really liked PB Vs the Grim Reaper, some real tunes on there.