Like an indie-rock Inception, Panda Bear’s upcoming Tomboy — the follow-up to his much-acclaimed 2007 solo joint Person Pitch — was supposed to be the album that redeemed 2010 and made us forget all about this dud-filled summer. But is what happened at the Pitchfork Festival over the weekend cause for worry?
The reaction on Twitter to PB’s Saturday-evening performance was mixed: “Feel like #p4k should institute a Nap Time Tent where Panda Bear can play all day,” said RadioFreeChicago. “Anyone know what Panda Bear is raping onstage?” wondered oneillb1. “I assume it’s a small animal capable of making terrible noises.”
Chicago Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis had this to say (via Stereogum):
Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, a.k.a. Noah Lennox, played a way-too-long set of drony trance grooves punctuated by atonal yelps, yodels, and the occasional wounded whale noise. If this sort of thing had been delivered by a third-tier Grateful Dead offshoot band on one of the smaller stages at Bonnaroo, the Pitchfork crowd would have scoffed in derision. But since it was Pitchfork-endorsed, most stood politely and soaked it in, though there was a steady stream of refugees fleeing for the other stages, the food lines, or the Porta-Potties.
Since Panda Bear has historically been Animal Collective’s least yelpy member, this concerns us greatly. Tomboy’s titular single, which leaked last week, was palatable enough. So how bad can the other new tracks be?