Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished - Avey Tare & Panda Bear

Chocolate Girl over Bat Youll Fly

do not get the appeal of this record. tried hard do, just do not get it

Im not a big AC fan, but I havent tried that hard. I like their first two albums because they sound more loose and varied to me.

in many ways i think this is their mission statement, each record after is a branch off of something on Spirit: extreme high/low frequencies and radio/mixer feedback (Danse Manatee, Centipede Hz), acoustic guitars (Sung Tongs, Campfire Songs), traditional songwriting craft (Feels, SJ), total chaos and noise (Here Comes the Indian), and Disney-esque keyboard lines (MPP, PW).

"Penny Dreadfuls" is my vote. Such an intense, eery song that builds to this fever pitch but doesn't ever fully climax except for Avey's screams toward the end. Spirit has so much amazing sound design and texture stuff too, like the zipper sounds at the end of this song.

This is by far my favourite AC album. Probably "Bat You'll Fly".

the MPP-era version of "Chocolate Girl" is one of the best things they've ever done

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8mxeqg3cA

going off the lyrics discussion in the other AC thread, i'd like to post the lyrics for "Penny Dreadfuls," one of the more creepy & sinister songs on this record:

Time'll change
Slip through the dust
As the bus pulls away from waving hands
And the child star
I bought a comic in the mail
And the sign said
The stories will shake the sheep
From off of you
So gather 'round
Just four more stops again
We'll reach our teachers'
Hallways in the end

Expect the foulest 'cause
Doubt does not allow it
I see the driver in the glass
This car moving past
While they're standing
There's no standing!

The five-year olds eat defeat,
Soiled in the seats when, "Attention!"
And short attention spans.
The boy who sweats when he's caught
Is touching a palm of a princess
Who's cawing, "Where's my baby doll!"
Manny the thief, just lost all his teeth
To his mama, playing baseball.

Ahh oooh...

Pick a place and settle,
Too fast to fright, he pauses
At who fought the likes of
His older pal.
And when they find out who he is,
Her eyes were sorry for
Her brother who waited away "go time"
Her dead costume just flipped her for the fall(?)
And watch the pain go through her
The entire body twisted
Soldiers in the coldness.

The bully grabs at my hair,
And punches they fell toward me,
Tells me, "gonna get me now"
The driver pushes the gas,
The bully's schemes caught fast
So he spins back,
Got his attention now.
He hits the brakes and we slide
And his head hits the side
And he screams out,
“Creeps, I'll take you all!”
And then he grabs penny dreadful, and looks on the check fulls,
And my head sinks, my friends have left my shore

Then there's the stop where Sarah climbs in, she says,
“Darling, where's your heart been”
He laughs in his place
She spits in his face and says, “Bully, you leave my boy alone
Everybody came down just to see me leaving
Baby take my hand now can't you see I'm happy
When the story's mine I think I'll tell it different
It's a shame to hear the sound
When the penny hit the ground
And I want to go back home
"When does this bus leave?”

fun fact, I play music for my son when I'm driving him around and (thus far) this is the only album that's made him cry. he's almost 2.

kinda dig this album, kinda really irritated by it. that first track is so damn unlistenable I almost wrote them off for good after hearing it.

I do find the overall aesthetic of this album interesting. It's almost like they're holed up in their room trying not to bother the neighbors. Then..."AAAAAAAA!! AAAAAAA!!!"

Anyway, "Alvin Row" is my pick. The second half of that is what convinced me to give this band another chance, though (thus far) I haven't heard them do anything else quite like it.

the opening title track grabbed me on first listen, it's still one of the most evocative and affecting pieces of music i've ever heard. such a great theme piece for the record and the AC's body of work: mourning, scary, teeth bared. impossible to listen to on headphones, though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

would like to know what y'all think of this year's live debut of Alvin Row (albeit only a segment)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDEGm5SzyxI

chocolate girl

almost wiped out listening to the title track last week thru earbuds, song sounds great out of speakers but the mixer feedback and frequency made me go crosseyed on the street

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

its so good to see this record getting some love. its so original... though difficult sonically it rewards lyrically. arresting!

It takes dome time for Chocolate Girl to get its groove going but when it does :0

We need to redo this poll to settle the winner, this triple tie wont do

Holy shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Oh1UIpmSM

wow that's fantastic

I'm just now realizing that I may never have seen someone play marimba before. That four-mallet technique is cool.