Released: 04/08/23
For those who loved Panda Bear’s 2007 opus Person Pitch, its 2011 follow-up, the excellent Tomboy, was yet more compelling proof that out of all the Animal Collective, Noah Lennox was evidently the one with all the best ideas/production chops. (For further evidence, see also AC’s breakout album Merriweather Post Pavilion, which has Lennox’s sonic fingerprints all over it.) Compositionally more sophisticated (and more rewarding) than its predecessor, Tomboy, thankfully, resists over-complication, and smartly places at its centre once again Lennox’s resonant voice (imagine Brian Wilson going full pelt in an extremely reverberant hall) – whose supplicating tone gives the tracks an electrifying, urgent feel (the legendary Martha Reeves had the same quality) – over the top of tracks that are perhaps best described as experimental sample-based girl-group calypso. If you missed it the first time around, this long-awaited vinyl reissue is the perfect way to remedy the situation – for Tomboy might just be Lennox’s finest achievement.