Andrew Vs. “Down There” by Avey Tare

“Down There” is the first solo album from Animal Collective founding member Avey Tare (aka David Portner). Throughout the last decade, these guys made some wildly different music, from their hectic electro-coustic 2004 album “Sung Tongs” to the pop-driven 2009 album “Merriweather Post Pavillion”. With Avey Tare now by himself, I expected some of the craziness from “Sung Tongs” and “Strawberry Jam” to return but the end product turned out to be the exact opposite. “Down There” is perhaps the most subdued work I’ve heard from any Animal Collective project. Unfortunately, I really wish it wasn’t.

There are plenty of neat ideas on this album, each track starting with an odd voice sample or a clever upbeat. It’s just too bad nothing really comes out of them. None of these tracks have the signature Animal Collective buildup to something crazy, and it probably would have been fine if Avey ditched it, but the songs don’t take the opportunity to capitalize on their awesome openings. I’m not sure if the intension of the album was to stay static, but somehow it doesn’t work as well as it was intended to. As predicted, though, “Down There” is more personal than the majority of earlier Animal Collective songs. “Heather in the Hospital” is about Avey’s sister being diagnosed with cancer and the oddly memorable imagery surrounding the challenges.

I definitely have to give it up to this album for having such amazing transitions. The songs sometimes fit together seamlessly from “Oliver Twist” to “Glass Bottom Boat” to “Ghost of Books” and “Heather in the Hospital” to “Lucky 1”. The transitions keep the pacing of this album just right, making “Down There” a relatively easy listen, especially at its 35 minute runtime.

Sadly, I’m pretty torn between this album. There are points when I am totally digging it, but there are also a ton of spots where it drags along. It also should be mentioned that Animal Collective member Deakin produced this album. The guys have worked together for years, so it’s easy to see where the vibe comes in. The well-thought swampy, alligator-inspired concept (despite being totally weird-sounding in the album’s press release) of this album makes it worth a listen, though.

WINNER: Tie

WHY: I know Avey can do better than this, and maybe the next time he ends up working solo, it will be awesome, but it resulted in something pretty interesting despite being light on any real “hell yeah” moments.