As Noah sang phrases like "take my life,” “What’s my life like?” I could only think that
was appropriate. I couldn’t understand my life until I let it go and let it get swept away by something else. In
this case, it was the music. Surrendering control is one of the most terrifying things you can do and my heart was
racing like it did the night I went to the beach spontaneously at midnight last week. I drove to Malibu, parked my
car and stood on the shore. My eyes couldn’t see in the dark and I was utterly alone with only the wide expanse
of the almighty Pacific Ocean creating thunderstorms in the waves. I had never felt so vulnerable in my life, but it
was oddly exhilarating.
That was the feeling I had while watching Noah and Pete perform. A complete and only slightly voluntary loss of
control that was terrifying and freeing simultaneously. It kicked in during Tomboy and didn’t let up, actually
just got more intense as we dove deeper and deeper into the sonic landscape that Noah and Pete navigated us through
like some sort of demented tour guides. The end of Tomboy was incredible. I have no idea how long it went on, but Noah
just closed his eyes and jammed out while Pete pushed buttons, etc and created just a sonic boom (pun completely
intended) of noise that was sounding like the machines were crying out to stop. It was desperate, pleading, but they
didn’t stop, it just kept droning on and on until the drum loop stopped.
And then the drum loop for Slow Motion kicked in. Oh god. Easily one of the best tracks on Tomboy and that’s
saying something because every track is brilliant. Forget the naysayers who say Tomboy wasn’t as good as Person
Pitch. It’s comparing apples to oranges here. Each album is different in its entirety. You wouldn’t want
him to just regurgitate the same album. You’d be whining even more. But enough on that. The pseudo hip-hop beat
starts playing and you can hear Noah’s tuning of the guitar and the effects before he actually starts strumming
the notes. The repetition in this song is really affecting. The two contrasting rhythms of the guitar and the drum
loop are constantly fighting for your attention. Once you focus on one, the other creeps in and it becomes a wave of
concentration, but not bad concentration.
And then I love love love the lyrics. It sounds so…defiant in a way. I love it. “So they say practice makes
you perfect,” it’s just the hard annunciation he does that makes it sound so, not angry, but really
really firm in showing that what people say isn’t what they always mean. “And when I slow it down
it’s clear just how it’s what they don’t say that’s what counts.” It’s just so simple. But so true.
Noah’s lyrics are plainly poignant. He doesn’t need a lot of words to say many things. And live,
it’s just so much energy. Noah is a very reserved performer when he performs solo as opposed to his
somewhat manic energy in Animal Collective. He doesn’t move around, he rarely opens his eyes, but his presence
is so resonant that you can’t help but sit enraptured.