Panda Bear

What if some of the Beach Boys were on drugs when they made Pet Sounds? Wait a second... OK, pretend Brian Wilson was really mentally imbalanced while -- hang on, that doesn't work either. But you get the point -- Panda Bear (a.k.a. Noah Lennox) is a big fan of the Beach Boys. On Person Pitch, he aspires to be something of a bizarro Boy, emulating and exacerbating their wall of sound and pairing sweet melodies about good times with weird electro-industrial loops. "I'm Not," with its watery Gregorian chant, is especially pretty.

Animal Collective drummer Noah Lennox goes by the pseudonym Panda Bear and is known
for wearing a costume in concert, so it's no surprise if people don't take him seriously. But
on his third album, he proves he's a first-rate solo artist. Person Pitch is a marvelous, hazy
trip full of Beach Boys-inspired psychedelia. On the opener, "Comfy in Nautica," he
establishes his purpose with this choice phrase: "Try to remember always just to... More >