Collected Animals

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

I think it's clicked a little for me

I think what had been throwing me with this album is how earnestly "performed" everything sounds. By which I mean, the usual product of AC's psychedelic production is that the final product sounds alive on its own, totally removed from the body playing the instrument (voice included). But on Time Skiffs, the drums really sound like Noah holding some sticks, hitting some drums. The keyboard parts are unashamedly "keys" parts. The band members are upfront and themselves in the performance of this album. And yet, somehow they still retain the detailed, full-of-secrets mixing style they've always had

I do realise not everyone might hear it that way

I agree with this, and wonder if it is a result of them having to record each instrument in isolation. that enhanced focus on each solo part when playing could take the individual performance of it to the front and center, whereas there is a more natural energy and interplay between instruments when recording as a group

awesome wrote:

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

damn, he's easily the most educated/well-researched interviewer i've heard from an AC interview. excellent thoughts and questions asked

cool to hear Deakin's keys on "Car Keys" are Indonesian inspired

lots of interesting bits that Deakin shared

Pretty cool interview. The CHZ gear breakdown at the beginning was amazing, I would kill for that kind of info from each era.

awesome wrote:

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

nice. so cool deakin had that bywater rain moment standing in music box village before the show. legendary shit

awesome wrote:

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

damn, he's easily the most educated/well-researched interviewer i've heard from an AC interview. excellent thoughts and questions asked

nothingmaster wrote:

awesome wrote:

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

nice. so cool deakin had that bywater rain moment standing in music box village before the show. legendary shit

I thought it was hilarious that deakin gave this detailed emotional answer and then the interviewer is like "OK then, bye."

But yeah, great interview from start to finish.

I listened to all the 00’s records with friends and I have to say, although this album has alot of beauty and is definitely a return to form it still never gets nowhere as thrilling and special as the Spirit->FBK era. It’s very well crafted and beautiful but it’s still missing that bizarre spark they had in the 00’s ( you never get that, WOO listening to TS)

I get that the guys got older and things change and it’s impressive that they still make some of the best music out there but the contrast I felt listening to the old stuff with TS was overwhelmingly clear. Their bold usage of sounds, song structures and rhythm and the sometimes almost shameless cathartic gut-spilling was what made them so special.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still loving this record, probably just even more amazed by their older albums. Thank you Time Skiffs.

no I would not be aFRAID

Hey y’all! Looooong time lurker and occasional poster here.

I’m a bit late to the party, but finally listened to Skiffs after avoiding all boots and singles. I wanted to experiment going into an album cycle completely fresh, as I hadn’t done that with an AC release since I was first getting into them back in 2005 (with an exception for Painting With, which, bathroom FLACs aside, we all went in fresh for).

That said, I made the somewhat weird decision to keep up with the board throughout, so while I never listened to any of the boots, I read everyone’s reactions throughout. It has been a strangely fun process, I had basically invented the sound of the album in my head based on everyone’s written descriptions. Listening through, it was really exciting to compare the actual record to what my expectations of each of song were.

I thought it would be fun to share my reactions, since my sense is that my perspective is kind of novel, since a lot of the discussion seems to be comparing the boots to the record. That said, I stopped reading the thread when the vinyl rip freebirded, so forgive me if I’m retreading already discussed observations or if a wealth of other virgin-to-skiffs listeners have already chimed in.

Spoiler: show

Dragon Slayer
I had read a lot of bafflement about this song being the opener when they announced the track list. To my ears, I have to admit the song lacks a certain “welcome to the show” quality that tracks line Peacebone, DYSTW, and In The Flowers have. That aside, it’s totally a fantastic tone-setter for the rest of the album. Avey’s singing is really spectacular, the subtle little snaky melodic motions in the verses, the tinge of hope in the line “enemies change their mind” (or something like that lol, going purely off of memory here), and of course the intensity of the chorus. I’m also generally grateful to hear so many harmonies back! Panda’s harmonies during the verses are really subtle and interesting, and the little “slayer/soul star” counter point in the second verse is so cute, I can’t help but love it. Also, the drumming is just phenomenal here and throughout the record! And the keyboard work too, the tones are so gentle, and the little descending melody is a humble ear worm. Also all the little reversed sounds throughout…I guess I should say now that I absolutely loved everything about this album.

Car Keys
Definitely one of the highlights of the record for me. The synth work on this one is so cool. It’s like CHz but now AC knows how to make space for each other. Panda’s melody is so fantastic too. I love the way he’s been writing melodies in recent years (thinking of Buoys and the recent remixes). He never loses that signature rhythmic precision, but he’s been allowing a lot more pop inflection into the works, and also just generally playing with rhythmic placement a lot more. The chorus on this song is just fucking fantastic. Hearing those soaring vocals and that response from Avey, it’s just unreal. I really hear the Grateful Dead there.

Prester John
Man this is a cool fucking song. I always really like AC songs that marry concept to expression really well, if that makes any sense. Melodically, there’s basically only two lines throughout. But the orchestration of the song and the arrangement really support that decision. Or perhaps, the simple form of the melody support the instrumentation. It’s funny, I always thought, from the descriptions of this song and the reference to Prester John, that it would be a much more fairies-in-the-forest mystical kind of sound. But in actuality it’s kind of dubby and spacey! I know this one was reworked several times, so maybe it used to be a little more mystical? I’m not complaining! The bass fills are really cool in the beginning. The harmony changes are perfectly placed to keep the engine of Panda’s melody going. I fucking love Deakin’s harmonies and the little solo moment. I think the way the moment they bring back Panda’s melody during the Prester John section is spot on, the perfect moment, it accepts the energy baton of the Prester melody and delivers it across the finish line. Also the ending wtf. That’s one of the coolest moods I’ve heard from them in a long time. The hurdy-gurdy call and response with the strange detuned synth, are you kidding me? Reminds me a lot of Geo’s solo cassette (which is fucking fantastic if any of y’all have been sleeping on it). Such a dark mood to contrast the buoyancy of the song. At first I was taken aback by it, but after a couple of listens I’m really really fond of it.

Strung With Everything
Hands down my favorite thing on the record. I’ve never heard anything like this before. I definitely hear the Jimmy Buffet comparison in a way, the sort of tropical rock n’ roll quality, but I think it goes much deeper than Buffet (thank god). The first section of this song is so cool, such a classic Avey/Panda vocal interplay, and such a fascinating key change. It seems like Avey has been interested in mish-mash songwriting since CHz, multiple sections with multiple keys, abruptly jumping from one to the other. While I’ve certainly enjoyed it elsewhere throughout the decade, this is perhaps the most exciting instance of this style from him I’ve heard to date. The arrival at the “suns no better off” part is so insanely gratifying, the band yelling, fucking rocking out. The drums here are so fantastic too. I’m so glad to hear the band playing with dynamics in a major way again, I’ve definitely felt that a lot of their output this last decade has been dynamically a little flat. At this point in the album, I feel like something that really begins to shine thru is the influence of oldies rock n’ roll. That call and response with Avey’s solo vocal is so fucking classic rock, in a way that’s so surprising and so exciting. This music feels so timeless, so inviting. Especially the second time around when it’s Avey’s vocals and Panda’s drum fills. Fuck I can’t believe this song exists.

Walker
At first this song was the one I felt the least about. I think it’s placement is perfect, a little light jaunt after the compositional intensity of strung. There’s something sneaking behind the surface of it though. The appreciate lines have a brooding quality that’s really subtle, something about the way the melody descends. Particularly with the harmonies the second time around. There’s a complex crunch behind the smooth pop veneer. The xylophone part is really fun, it makes me think of Mark Mothersbaugh or They Might Be Giants. The outro with the disintegrating xylophone and Avey’s chopped up voice is really really lovely. At first, I was considering this moment and the moment at the end of Prester as their own separate compositions, but I’ve really come to appreciate them as essential parts of the songs a few listens in. They serve to comment on the poppiness that comes before them, the shadow to AC’s melodic chops has always been their penchant for modernist electronic composition. This particular iteration at the end of Walker is particularly sublime.

Cherokee
Fuck this is a perfect song. This and Passerby were the two I was most curious to hear after reading the sense of controversy in the forum’s response to their reworks for the 2021 tour. Now I’m especially curious to hear the 2019 versions because it’s hard for me to imagine how these could possibly be different! The way the bassline comes in is so fucking groovy with the swung drums. I get the sort of Twin Peaks jazz vibe from this a lot, particularly the horn section (also how did they make that horn section??? It’s so fucking good!!! I want more horns in AC music). The songwriting here is so top notch, Avey’s brand of Americana, the snaky, tired melody, the length of melodic phrases, all of it. The “choo-choose love” section is another classic rock moment. It really gives me a doo-woo quality. Is this the section that used to be auto tuned??? It’s so cathartic, so emotional, and such a powerful chant that it lets the instrumentation build and climax so powerfully. Oh man I almost forgot Deakin’s jazzy counter vox! Those are fantastic. Also LMAO at the Tom Hanks line. I had read about that but still completely caught me off guard when I heard it. I can’t wait to listen to this one hundreds of more times haha.

Passerby
Wooow, this is a show stopper. The main melody is fucking heavy. This is truly another classic rock jam, an aching ballad. Reminds me a bit of late Beatles in some ways, as well as Doo-wop. Avey has never sounded so dejected. Also that funny little falsetto moment at the end of the first verse??? That shouldn’t work, but it weirdly does?? In many ways this feels like the successor to Gotham to me. Where Gotham is sunset, this song is 4AM. I love the second section of the song too, the passerby moment, the sudden introduction of the Lydian scale really evokes a little bit of mysticism. And panda’s melody section is particularly wonderful, Panda always has such a longing hopeful counterpoint to Avey’s heavier delivery. The only real complaint I have at all with this album is the “thank you passerby” moment at the very end. Feels so left field and like, almost musical theatre to me. I kind of wish they had recapitulated another section of the song again, like Avey’s passerby moment after the verses. That said, this wouldn’t be a classic AC album if there weren’t at least one challenging decision, so I’m psyched to continue listening and growing into that decision.

We Go Back
Another highlight for me. This song is nuts!!! So tight, so strange, and so concise. The drums and the meter are so wild, but feel so natural. Another one that feels a bit They Might Be Giants. Also reminds me a bit of The Burglars, but much more concise. The call and response chorus is so fucking infectious. The auto-tune really surprised me, and it works beautifully, it pops out of the mix like an ethereal angelic robot. One thing that stands out to me on the whole about this record is how beautiful the singing is. It’s really really exciting hearing Deakin, Avey, and Panda sing with each other so powerfully, and a song like this really shows off how much their chops have improved throughout their career. The “yeahs” preceding the start of each verse line are so funny and good. The outro is so nice, especially with the broken down vocal call and response becoming so clear. Also I doubt it’s on purpose but the clock tower melody being on a record ostensibly about songs as time travel is really sick.

Royal & Desire
This song man, this is the one. Hearing Josh’s songwriting in the band context is just wonderful. Another one that really seems to embrace the lessons learned from rock n roll of yore. I hear the dead, maybe some Buffalo Springfield. This is one of the most concise and exciting compositions the band has ever made. The way the drums build and effortlessly fall away, subverting your expectation of an explosion, Deakin’s step motion up to that high note, the call and response moments after Deakin’s down melody, how those call and response moments are replaced by the auto tuned voice that last time. Also that big crunchy harmony after the drum build, where it sounds like all three of them are singing. That’s another transcendent moment that feels like a nod to the dead. There a lot of details in this song that I’m excited to pick a part, but more than that I’m just so thrilled by the feel, the emotion here.


General album reflections
I think I read someone describing the record as a sunset, and I really really feel that. There’s something about these songs that evokes the many colors in the sky that moment the sun dips below the horizon. A certain kind of longing. The thing that really stood out to me the first go around was the vocals and the drums. The vocals soar, and the drums are so nuanced and driving. I think the only evidence of the fact that it was all recorded remotely is how clearly Panda is leading the momentum and feel of each song in the drums. That’s not to diminish the fantastic playing by any of the other members, just to say that the drums really feel like point zero of these songs. And their voices sound capable, so strong. Particularly impressed by the journey Avey has been on the past decade with his singing. My biggest complaints about CHz and Slasher and Down There was how strained his voice sounded. On the one hand, it was cool to see him push his voice so hard, but on the other, I often felt worried that he wasn’t supporting his voice enough, and could hear the strain pretty clearly. With Cow’s and Eucalyptus though, it seemed like he was taking a different approach, one that comes to fruition on Skiffs beautifully, and still allows for moments of signature intensity (particular on Strung, he’s so in his element there it’s thrilling).

I don’t want to get too hierarchical with their records, they all suit me at different points in my life to varying degrees! That said, I feel like Skiffs really has a unique quality in their discography, and was enchanting on the first listen in a way that I hadn’t felt since I was first getting into this band in 2005 after my friend Jose showed me Leaf House. Truly just excited to get to know these songs, and grateful to have these guys in my life offering their process, music, and reflections.

Anyways, hope that was fun/an interesting perspective for y’all! Had fun taking the time to type my thoughts out. Gonna spend some time catching up on the discourse from the last couple of weeks, curious to know where my perceptions line up with others! Be good out there and thanks for giving me a community, even if I hardly ever talk here <3

Spoiler: show

Lacrimosa wrote:

I listened to all the 00’s records with friends and I have to say, although this album has alot of beauty and is definitely a return to form it still never gets nowhere as thrilling and special as the Spirit->FBK era. It’s very well crafted and beautiful but it’s still missing that bizarre spark they had in the 00’s ( you never get that, WOO listening to TS)

I get that the guys got older and things change and it’s impressive that they still make some of the best music out there but the contrast I felt listening to the old stuff with TS was overwhelmingly clear. Their bold usage of sounds, song structures and rhythm and the sometimes almost shameless cathartic gut-spilling was what made them so special.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still loving this record, probably just even more amazed by their older albums. Thank you Time Skiffs.

This is my first reaction, too. Granted the album has been out for a little over a week and I didn't listen to any of the boots, It feels kind of bland and predictable to me. It never really takes any left turns or has any surprising moments. The sound palette is pretty neutral and lacks the edge and abrasion that their other records have. It just sounds like they laid down some tracks and called it a day. I'm not hearing the inspiration.

I don't hold it against them, though. I know the pandemic altered their plans and they did what they were able to do. If you took these songs and gave them the same energy we got on Bridge to Quiet, it would be a completely different album.

It's such a shame because the songs themselves are great and I can't help but wonder "what if." I do like the album a lot and don't think I'll get bored of it any time soon. Just hoping the next one has better energy and goes further "out there."