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Last year's Strawberry Jam saw Animal Collective's atonal, droney folk sound mellowing into something smoother. The title track from the Water Curses EP initially picks up where this left off, with the familiar swirling electronics and giddy hurdy-gurdy organ, buoyed up by Avey Tare's helium-voiced whimsy.
This doesn't mean it's easy listening, just that it's listenable. Not a word is distinguishable, and within two minutes we have a cacophony of synthesised violins and flutes, tinkling noises, and what sounds like a Soviet military march played backwards. Though it trips along with no discernible verses or choruses, there's the nagging suspicion that there's a pop song in there somewhere: albeit one that's been stripped apart and molested to oblivion.
Much the same is true of the remaining (and much more downbeat) tracks. No-one expects an easy ride with Animal Collective, but nothing quite prepares you for the synthesised screams - or possibly demonic laughs - that intersperse the sparse, spacey and otherwise engaging Street Flash. Cobwebs is a soulful cry across the savannah in the Foals / Yeasayer vein; but wilfully hamstrung by a queasy sonic heat-haze.
Seal Eyeing, with its watery ambient swirls and tinkly piano, is prettier; so why the sounds of cutlery being dropped in the background? Interesting tunes, but too much treatment.
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