Collected Animals

I only watched it twice

All the names of the these songs blend together in a bad way

MGMT comparisons are fair but I get more this vibes from All the Clubs are Broken

I'm listening to Bridge to Quiet and it fits a lot better with Isn't It Now? than i expected it would

Clubs sounded much better on the second listen when I was prepared for how shocking it is in context

Me to my gf: "30 seconds, that's pretty good, right?"

Is there guest instrumentation on anything besides Defeat? [admin note: not on the album]

anyone else getting crosswords vibes from gem & I?

I shouldnt opf wouldnt of carefully?? what??

How good is that stage around 8-10 listens in where everything has just settled beautifully and you can just ride the album with nothing but a stupid grin on your face!?

I shouldnt opf wouldnt of carefully?? what??

Shouldn't have, Wouldn't have Walked in there CARE-ful-lllllleeeeey.

I think they walked into a portal inside their grandfathers wardrobe and woke up on the Dawn Treader, like it's literally Narnia, Magicians Nephew maybe.

I thought it was "I wouldn't've shouldn't've walked in the careful breeze"?

I fuck with Kings. They havent had a tune like this one in a while, atleast on a major album. This album is fucking fantastic. I think Clubs are broken is my least favorite but i also cant stop singing it to myself. I really like how kings plays by its own time. I'm mad ewxcited for the official lyrics so i can do a read along, especially for Magicians and that last Genies lyrics hehe

I’m abstaining. Who’s with me? Enjoying all the first impressions tho thx for posting. Like being the only sober guy at a tailgate but whatevs. Think I’m most pumped for “All the Clubs.” I’m imagining something in the vein of “Slippi” and “We Tigers” or even “Modern Days E.”

i'm waiting too, loving all the impressions of the new song lol sounds like a wild one

Defeat should have been left off the album entirely and works far better as its own thing (in fact, this album generally could have done with a lot of cuts). The abrupt transition into Gem startled me and actually made me laugh out loud in my car. Not in a good way, but in a “Really? That’s what we decided to go with??” sort of way. Unfortunately, I consider most of the albums sequencing and tonal handlings to be a massive bungle.

I feel like others here are in this same boat, but im coming around more and more that Defeat shoulda just been its own stand alone single (and let Magicians be the centerpiece) or placed elsewhere on the album (probably side D, I dunno). its just a bit of a slog in the middle of the album.

also realized, even if you omit Defeat from the tracklist
first four songs: 26 minutes
last four songs: 16 minutes

How good that clubs is called acab

Defeat is perfect as the centerpiece of the album, i think it perhaps was hampered more by being a single even though i didnt listen to it much. This entire album feels like a musical or a stageplay almost or like an opera

Kings Walk is maybe an even more apocalyptic closer than Defeat would've been.

idiot question but i realized today i still have no clue and it could go either way imo: is Genie's a panda song or an avey song

Defeat is perfect as the centerpiece of the album, i think it perhaps was hampered more by being a single even though i didnt listen to it much. This entire album feels like a musical or a stageplay almost or like an opera

Yes I feel that, I really like the pattern of alternating tragedy and comedy that starts with Defeat. Obviously you have Gem, and then after Deakin's earnest, plaintive meditation on loss, ACAB is a colorful disco parade that comes marching in over the hillside. And then I think Kings is made all the more haunting by being so emotionally ambiguous after hearing all these extremes. I definitely like Defeat in the middle but agree that it would have been ideal not to hear it as a single first.

Also Gem is really one of those genius pieces of pop songwriting where you can hear it over and over but never quite get enough of the hooks.

Kings Walk, seems to me, as a statement. That kings will also have to walk; if the apocalypse comes, it isn't sparing anyone.

idiot question but i realized today i still have no clue and it could go either way imo: is Genie's a panda song or an avey song

The original Sea of Light was avey, but I've read a bunch of people say genies is a combined effort, so the first section might be panda?

shizzle, the drums sound phenomenal on this album! this setup would’ve really done dragon slayer, car keys & prester john some MUCH needed justice. car keys is the absolute worst to listen in my car due to the unbridled boom of the runaway bass drum. i practically have to turn the bass to negative so i don’t explode

Yeah they’ve mentioned it in interviews. First part panda, second and third parts avey’s sea of light. I assume pandas section was called genies open and that’s what they preferred

again I'm reminded of the Spyro the Dragon soundtrack in the last segment of Genie's

Genies Open feat. Stuart Copeland

Fucking Magicians man... From Baltimore indeed

Buddy called me earlier and asked if I was playing Cuphead lol, he's not wrong though

Man, really shouldn't have listened to the live version compilation recently. Genie's Open is so mediocre comparably.
All The Clubs Are Broken is nearly album-breaking and unlistenable. Yet Broke Zodiac through Stride Right is really great, enjoying this the most I have since Centipede. A shame King's Walk isn't longer and crazier-- like Stride Right it's done a significant disservice by being near ACAB and immediately downgrades what could be a solid closer.

AC always gonna throw a curve ball at you dude

After listening to the album 100 times at this point here’s my honest tracklist edit

It should have been in this order

All the clubs are broken
Broke zodiac
Magicians from Baltimore
Gem and I
Soul capturer
Genies open
Kings walk
Defeat
Stride rite

AC always gonna throw a curve ball at you dude

i'll take feral screaming & primal drumming or a wall of geo's bleeps n bloops over a stale song like ACAB. All for curve balls if they push the team past the finish line after an already good showing, not if they throw the game you feel?
Alone it's fine I guess, but Marxist Love Disco Ensemble already aced the formula that AnCo is trying to branch out into -- and that album flows incredibly well.

I think the track list/ structure/ pacing is awesome

I do have the instinct to skip Defeat if I'm trying to do a faster listen, but if I start with SC, then I'm down to clown and Defeat is rich and deep enough to revisit a lot. Idk I have 0 issues with this album other than not loving Deaks vocals on stride but I never loved stride a ton idk. It's fine

Alone it's fine I guess, but Marxist Love Disco Ensemble already aced the formula that AnCo is trying to branch out into -- and that album flows incredibly well.

Hey thanks for the rec, digging this!

I am starting to feel like Gem and Stride should be switched, but I'm too stubborn to listen any way other than the official order

Really the only 'issues' I have is I wish there was an Avey scream after the first on the Magnolias part, like he does live (instead of the little 'ooh'), and Genies being more lively in general and faster in the final part. I can see why Stride might grate on some people, and I hope they (or Deak) move away from that style, but I've been in love with that song for a while and it checks all the boxes for me

I really think I'm adjusting to a slightly more "chill" Genies is easy for me because I really think it's how they played it last summer. Idk. And like is it really "chiller" it's still wild. But they ease into the last chunk more than they did at first.

I'll defend the gorgeousness of the vocals and productions and writing of Genies and Kings til I die

I wish there was an Avey scream after the first on the Magnolias part, like he does live (instead of the little 'ooh')

YES, I miss that Avey scream as well and hear it every time in my head.

For better or worse AC cannot land on a vibe between these two

some early thoughts

soul capturer has REALLY grown on me and is a great way to start the album. genies is fantastic, but feels like a natural final song that its a bit weird to come in so early in the album. LOVE defeat and broke zodiac, they nailed those songs. magicians is a bit of a slog for me and the bum bum vocals in gem & i kinda ruin the song, sounds a bit hokey. ACAB is a serious highlight, i know its just them doing an ariel pink song but it sounds so fresh.

one gripe i have is i wish is that there were more transitions/interludes. sooo many fade outs and abrupt song beginnings that feel uncharacteristic for them.

I think the transition/interlude/ambient parts are more built into the songs this time around. The last minute and half of Soul Capturer. The slow intros on Genies and Magicians (not to mention the Magicians verses), long stretches of Defeat obviously, ACAB basically IS an interlude, then the slow sparse Kings that has these pauses throughout. I think interludes on top of all that would have dragged things out too much.

For better or worse AC cannot land on a vibe between these two

Lmao perfect

I get sad when kings walk ends knowing that the skiffs era is really finally over…like when you’ve been reading a long, good book and you get to the last page. But luckily I will listen to these songs 500 more times

Being perhaps overly positive, listening to this reminds me of how I listened to AC albums when I first got into them. I had a handful of favourites which I really caned and kept replaying, while skipping stuff that didn't seem to get going or which required more patience/investment or - frankly - which I just didn't enjoy as much.

I'm mostly just playing Broke, Gem, Stride and ATCAB and occasionally listening to Genie's and Magicians. SC is perfectly good but quite long and repetitive. Defeat starts way too slowly, it feels daunting/boring. Great when it gets going but again, the final section is so drawn out, it's just not appealing knowing there's another four songs to come. I get bored and skip and get straight into Gem. King's is OK. Feels like a reference to some 00s stuff but the melody isn't strong.

Again, to may initial point, I'm hopeful that these less engaging moments will find their place in my heart like Flesh Canoe or The Softest Voice or Two Sails did, and which I absolutely adore now.

I'm going to make my own bright, brisk and breezy Now Skiffs though. Should be a fun record and the production/instrumentation/songwriting is pretty similar overall.