Up is down and Left is right

I'm really confused right now. If you had asked me three days ago to name two bands that I thought were way way overrated compared to the amount of buzz that they generate, I wouldn't have hesitated for even a second before I told you flat out "Okkervil River and Animal Collective". That's how I felt and I had no qualms about telling other people all about it. The last two days have left me reeling. Yesterday I listen to the new Okkervil album and am blown away and forced to plant my foot firmly in my mouth for all of the shit i gave them. Now today I'm writing about another song that I think is one of the best of year and it comes from Okkervil's doppelganger, Animal Collective.

They have a new album, Strawberry Jam, set to be released next month, which has the most godawful cover art I've seen recently (see it here). All of this aside, I really like the album. It's a bit more accessible than their past efforts, yet it keeps it weird, which is cool. My favorite track is also, it seems, the favorite track of half of the Internet, so you may have already heard it. The song which I am referring to is "Fireworks". It's really hard to describe Animal Collective songs. Most of the traditional lexicon used to describe music is not easily applied here. There are drums and guitars and warm swells of sound from many different directions. Headphones are recommended to get the full sound here. As I said, words only go so far, just let your ears figure it out.

Animal Collective - Fireworks

Pre-order Strawberry Jam here