Album Review: Tomboy

Panda Bear follows up the all-time great Person Pitch, an effort that won him unanimous critical acclaim, with a moody, guitar-driven collection of hit-or-miss anthems. The album serves as a near-perfect soundtrack to the summer but doesn’t warrant the repeat listens of his former masterstroke. To be fair, practically nothing would. The pressure to follow up one of our generation’s most unique, creative, and addicting records was a task that even Noah Lennox was not going to be able to pull off.

Tomboy includes several standout tracks, including the hypnotic “Last Night at the Jetty.” The track features Lennox’s standard falsetto but expands into euphoric harmonies during the song’s blissful peaks. My two favorite tracks, “Drone” and “Scheherezade,” are atmospheric pieces where Panda Bear uses that falsetto as an instrument to compliment simple melody from noise and drones. It’s a beautiful exercise that isn’t experimented with at this level beyond the two tracks.

Ultimately, Panda Bear does not reach the heights of his last effort but provides a solid statement that his solo career beyond Animal Collective will continue to push the boundaries of pop and experimental music. I still find Avey Tare’s Down There to be a less repetitive, more cohesive and creative exploration of what the genre needs and represents. It’s more affecting on repeated listens.

Fishpork’s 100 Favorite Tracks of the 2000s

This is an attempt at the impossible. Here are our 100 favorite songs of the past decade (featuring multiple tracks from Animal Collective, The Knife, Radiohead, and Elliott Smith). Our top two choices are more like 1a and 1b. Be patient, as the page needs to load the embedded songs.

1. Panda Bear – “Bros” (2007)

2. The Knife – “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (2006)

3. Animal Collective – “For Reverend Green” (2007)

4. Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait For The Others” (2009)

5. The Knife – “Heartbeats” (2003)

6. Grizzly Bear – “The Knife” (2005)

7. LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great” (2007)

8. TV on the Radio – “Staring at the Sun” (2003)

9. Crystal Castles – “Crimewave” (2008)

10. Beirut – “Ciloqut” (2007)

11. Thom Yorke – “Harrowdown Hill

12. Animal Collective – “Derek” (2007)

13. Nine Inch Nails – “Me, I’m Not” (2007)

14. Beck – “Lonesome Tears” (2002)

15. At The Drive-in – “One Armed Scissor” (2004)

16. Animal Collective – “Grass” (2005)

17. Deerhunter – “Nothing Ever Happened” (2008)

18. Atlas Sound – “Recent Bedroom” (2008)

19. Panda Bear – “Comfy in Nautica” (2007)

20. System of a Down – “Chop Suey” (2001)

21. Animal Collective – “Peacebone” (2007)

22. Battles – “Atlas” (2007)

23. Error – “Jack the Ripper” (2004)

24. Enon – “Pleasure and the Privilege”

25. Elliott Smith – “Son of Sam” (2000)

26. Animal Collective – “Did You See the Words” (2005)

27. The Knife – “Marble House” (2006)

28. LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends” (2007)

29. Thom Yorke – “Analyse” (2006)

30. The Flaming Lips – “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” (2002)

31. Girl Talk – “Smash Your Head” (2006)
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32. A Perfect Circle – “Judith” (2000)

33. Radiohead – “Idioteque” (2000)

34. Tapes N’ Tapes – “Manitoba” (2006)

35. TV On The Radio – “I Was A Lover” (2006)

36. Radiohead – “Reckoner” (2007)

37. Fever Ray – “Coconut” (2009)

38. Animal Collective – “My Girls” (2009)

39. Built to Spill – “Things Fall Apart” (2009)

40. Wilco – “I’m Trying to Break Your Heart” (2002)

41. Modest Mouse – “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” (2000)

42. Animal Collective – “Leaf House” (2004)

43. Modeselektor – “Happy Birthday” (2007)

44. Arcade Fire – “Wake Up” (2004)

45. Autolux – “Blanket” (2004)

46. MGMT – “Time to Pretend” (2007)

47.  Built to Spill – “Conventional Wisdom” (2006)

48. Wilco – “Side With the Seeds” (2007)

49. Elliott Smith – “Happiness/The Gondola Man” (2000)

50. Avey Tare – “I’m Your Eagle Kisser” (2007)

51. Department of Eagles – “Waves of Rye” (2008)

52. Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes” (2009)

53. Radiohead – “2+2 = 5″ (2003)

54. Dredg – “Sang Real” (2005)

55. While Lies – “Farewell to the Fairground” (2009)

56. Grizzly Bear – “Ready, Able” (2009)

57. Matisyahu – “King Without a Crown” (2005)

58. Modest Mouse – “Paper Thin Walls” (2000)

59. Dillinger Escape Plan – “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” (2002)

60. Elliott Smith – “Twilight” (2004)

61. Deerhunter – “Flourescent Grey” (2007)

62. Holy Fuck – “Lovely Allen” (2007)

63. LCD Soundsystem – “Never As Tired As When I’m Waking Up” (2006)

64. The Notwist – “Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)” (2008)

65. Liars – “Nothing Is Ever Lost or Can Be Lost My Science Friend” (2004)

66. The Mars Volta – “Inertiatic E.S.P.” (2003)

67. The Notwist – “Solitaire” (2002)

68. Of Montreal – “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” (2007)

69. Queens of the Stone Age – “Tangled Up in Plaid” (2005)

70. Radiohead – “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” (2007)

71. Saul Williams – “Raised To Be Lowered” (2007)

72. Autolux – “Great Days for the Passenger Element” (2004)

73. Sigur Ros – “Untitled 8″ (2002)

74. Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs – “Maps” (2003)

75. Portishead – “Threads” (2008)

76. Sufjan Stevens – “Chicago” (2005)

77. Ugly Casanova – “Things I Don’t Remember” (2002)

78. Animal Collective – “Brothersport” (2009)

79. Radiohead – “Pyramid Song” (2001)

80. Nine Inch Nails – “Only” (2005)

81. El-P – “Flyentology” (2007)

82. Queens of the Stone Age – “No One Knows” (2002)

83. Ghostface Killah – “Shakey Dog” (2006)

84. Modest Mouse – “Missed the Boat” (2007)

85. UNKLE – “Persons and Machinery” (2007)

86. Amon Tobin – “Verbal” (2002)

87. The White Stripes – “Denial Twist” (2005)
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88. Tomahawk – “Captain Midnight” (2003)

89. Modest Mouse – “Bukowski” (2004)

90. Sigur Ros – “Hoppipolia” (2005)

92. Fuck Buttons – “Sweet Love For Planet Earth” (2008)

93. Bon Iver – “Skinny Love” (2008)

94. Built to Spill – “In Your Mind” (2001)

95. The White Stripes – “Icky Thump” (2007)

96. Does It Offend You, Yeah? – “We Are Rockstars” (2008)

97. Dub Trio – “Not Alone” (2006)

98. Modest Mouse – “The World At Large”

99. The Walkmen – “In the New Year” (2008)

100. Nine Inch Nails – “The Great Destroyer (Modwheelmood Remix)” (2007)