Painting With
by Animal Collective
  • Record Label: Domino
  • Release Date: Feb 19, 2016
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 36
  3. Negative: 1 out of 36
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  1. The 405
    Feb 8, 2016
    95
    This is a lush, intellectual and brilliant collection, constantly teeming with sounds, innovations and ideas.
  2. Pretty Much Amazing
    Feb 16, 2016
    83
    Offerings of pure pop pleasure are offset with healthy doses of weirdness. It’s a sincere, exciting and excitable album that successfully adds by subtracting.
  3. Punknews.org (Staff)
    Mar 1, 2016
    80
    Painting With will not compare to Animal Collective’s most lauded work but these guys are forever experimentalists. This batch of songs is quicker and sunnier, something older fans are sure to despise. But what a great change of pace it is.
  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    Feb 19, 2016
    80
    Overall, Painting With is a dizzying, lurid treat, almost too much to take in, craving its natural habitat. And it’ll really come alive out in the wild.
  6. DIY Magazine
    Feb 19, 2016
    80
    With every sound shoved forward in the mix, oodles of white space floats inbetween the sound-splats. Every moment is for the taking. Painting With marks an immediate, and physical new direction, and anything seems possible.
  7. AllMusic
    Feb 18, 2016
    80
    Undeniably great sounding, the record puts Animal Collective's brightest colors forward and, if history is any indication, is no predictor whatsoever of what they may do next.
  8. NOW Magazine
    Feb 17, 2016
    80
    Although the album revels in its sonic clutter (it’s remarkable how they can make percussive rhythms sound both primitive and absurdly futuristic), there are tracks scattered throughout to catch your breath.
  9. Spin
    Feb 12, 2016
    80
    Animal Collective’s latest sees them painting with confidence, acrylics, dinosaurs, Bob Ross, a twist, and a wipe out.
  10. Slant Magazine
    Feb 11, 2016
    80
    This is, after all, Animal Collective's attempt at stuffing a decade's worth of changing tastes into 12 disciplined, bite-sized songs. What's most impressive is that they accomplish this feat without ever letting accessibility compromise their individual preferences as artists, and vice versa.
  11. Uncut
    Feb 3, 2016
    80
    Painting With is striking because it manages to distill the essence of Animal Collective into 12 slices of bite-sized psych-pop that have the punchy immediacy of a Ramones album. [Mar 2016, p.65]
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  12. Record Collector
    Feb 3, 2016
    80
    There’s a time and place for material this demanding of the listeners’ attention, and it does take repeated listens for the album to really make sense, but when the mood fits, Painting Is hits the spot like only they can.
  13. The Skinny
    Feb 3, 2016
    80
    Animal Collective still lay down a challenge. It's the sound of a band refreshed.
  14. The A.V. Club
    Feb 19, 2016
    75
    Animal Collective is capable of crafting self-serious, masterful records; Painting With shows that the group is perhaps even better at making something meaningful when it loosens up.
  15. Consequence
    Feb 19, 2016
    75
    All of the themes of Painting With converge to form a portrait of togetherness and encourage a shift of perspective. Panda and Avey preach on “Lying in the Grass” to “Try and approach/ The hidden picture.” Do so, and you’ll find that even in the album’s minimalism, there is plenty to enjoy and find worthwhile.
  16. The Line of Best Fit
    Feb 16, 2016
    75
    There are some striking, startling and sublime moments on Painting With, even if it is at times a little dis-jointed.
  17. Magnet
    Feb 12, 2016
    75
    The result is Animal Collective at its tightest, most coherent and poppiest, even as the band draws on '60s psych/pop, rudimentary techno and three-chord punk to build on its ever-evolving sound. [No. 128, p.53]
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  18. Rolling Stone
    Feb 19, 2016
    70
    The results are weirdly addictive and enjoyably absurd.
  19. Entertainment Weekly
    Feb 18, 2016
    67
    Part of what has made Animal Collective so revered is their disregard for traditional song structure and melody. They’re still testing those limits on Painting With, but the product rarely feels as groundbreaking.
  20. Pitchfork
    Feb 16, 2016
    62
    In the absence of a less effable genius, there's always elbow grease. Painting With feels, more than anything, like a kind of construction project: Each sound meticulously built and only faintly familiar, each second crammed with doodads, as though the band was worried either they or their audience might get bored.

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Most Discussed Album of 2016
66
#66 Most Shared Album of 2016

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 103 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 79 out of 103
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 103
  3. Negative: 7 out of 103
  1. atmosphericrex
    Feb 19, 2016
    9
    First let me address two things that are irrelevant to this album's quality but seem to find into the opinions of others about this record.First let me address two things that are irrelevant to this album's quality but seem to find into the opinions of others about this record.

    1. The band's history - Yes, this record is a departure from the sound of previous animal collective releases. That is what they wanted it to be. It may be natural to compare this to their previous releases but doing so is irrelevant to the quality of the music on the album. Look at this release as what it is, a standalone record with its own unique sound.

    2. Dismissive Haters - There are a large amount of people who are extremely dismissive towards Animal Collective because they have an indie scene connotation to them. This is unfounded, Animal Collective has never tried to be anything but Animal Collective. They are not pretentious and are some of the personally most humble and kind human beings in the music business. Do not be dismissive of their music because you perceive them to be some hipster indie fad.

    The record explained on a no B.S musical level -

    This record is a very solid release. All of the songs are short yet effective, they all establish a unique auditory theme that is examined and climaxed in the course of 2-4 minutes. This is extremely admirable, there are 12 stories told on this record, all completely unique and interesting whilst retaining a cohesiveness that is rare on an album where each track is such a stand out statement. The vocals on this record are absolutely amazing, Avey Tare and Panda Bear take turns serving as each other's echo on various tracks, this seems like it may become a gimmick, but it is used sparingly and in a tasteful manner where it does not become intrusive and adds to the character of this record. The only time this seems to fail is on the track "Summing the Wretch", where the vocal trade off is delayed enough to cause a slight discourse in the listening experience. Alternatively, on the track "Hocus Pocus", the two vocalists seem to fuse into one powerful two-headed vocalist who delivers his lines as if he were a jazz musician scatting. Another stand out feature of this record is its unique striped down production style that in a paradoxical way appears both extremely full and empty at the same time. The electronic elements exist without reverb which leaves empty spaces, it feels like the music is aerated, it is very refreshing and allows a further exploration of various elements of the records. You can focus on a certain chime or ding or bing or bang without it being hidden by a cloud of reverb. This is some of geologist's finest work. The only part of this record that I feel is too cluttered is during "Vertical", when Tare sings "So high and still it sends a feeling to me", it's just a bit much but it doesn't exist for too long of a time to be any real distraction or impediment to the success of the song. Other notable elements of this record include the incredible beginnings of the tracks "Lying in Grass" for its unique repetition of what appears to be Avey Tare making unintelligible noises, "Golden Gal" for it's amazing sample and joyful "da da da da" and "Hocus Pocus" for its dinosaurs and great beat. The song "Bagels in Kiev" is the quietest song on the record, and most ambient and ethereal, it is a standout for this along with its overall mystical nature, it feels like a flashback which is what the subject matter of the song is, so it is effective in that sense and also in every other sense that a song can be successful in. "Recycling" is a great track, it feels like one of those factories in an animated movie that moves to the beat of a song, you know exactly what I mean don't pretend that you don't. "The Burglars" has perhaps Avey Tare's greatest achievement vocal wise, his vocal chords are running on a treadmill and he just keeps pumping up the speed to a sprint, but he does not fall, go him, it's great, so insane, seriously even if you hate this record go listen to this just to hear how fast he speaks it is insane like woah, man oh my god, are you alright? Should I call a doctor, like wow. The song ends a little abruptly though, I wish they would have just kept going with that for a little longer. The synths of "Spilling Guts" are pounding and infectious. "On Delay" will have you saying "like a double exposure, just waiting to happen" to yourself for days. "FloriDada" is sort of this record's banger, something you can really sing along to, it makes you want to find a friend to sing along to it with so each of you can do the two vocal parts, really twisty and tangly in that way. Once "Natural Selection" gets going it is very boingy, and very interesting in its stereo trade off.

    The only track that I don't really dig is "Summing the Wretch" not bad, just a bit much, personally just not my favorite.

    The record is really good, something new, something interesting, something UNIQUE. A true stand-out achievement for Animal Collective. Good job guys :)    … Full Review »
  2. vastfields
    Feb 19, 2016
    10
    Enjoy the new taste of Coke. Imagine, instead of being a critic, that you get a chance to be on safari with Anco. Maybe try actually paintingEnjoy the new taste of Coke. Imagine, instead of being a critic, that you get a chance to be on safari with Anco. Maybe try actually painting with "Painting With", as it might allow you to stop critiquing and start experiencing this new kind of music. The vocal acrobatics of "On Delay" and "Summing the Wretch" are instant spiral staircases leading us to some ineffable, cozy joy. The perspective shifting wiles of Golden Gals and Floridada provoke one to leap outside of convention and to abandoned the notion of what Animal Collective "is" and just allow yourself to be swept up in this growing energy. Finally "Recycling" explains our ride, once again presenting us with all the joys of the greatest pop albums, yet bending all those typical linear trappings. What they've managed to do with this album is to instill that familiar feel of a great pop album, yet examine it's lines and fine detail. They've spilled the guts of all pop music, for us all to see. Thank you for this new page to the story, Anco. This is a shining light!… Full Review »
  3. BrushedRed
    Feb 19, 2016
    5
    Love Animal Collective, but this album just wasn't worth all the hype it generated. I was excited after Floridada and Lying in the Grass, butLove Animal Collective, but this album just wasn't worth all the hype it generated. I was excited after Floridada and Lying in the Grass, but it seems I found this album to be quite boring as a whole and it lacks a lot of range and dynamics, or personality for that matter. Seems like they threw in a lot of electronics I'm guessing for no reasons. Even though the songs are short they tend to meander around and overstay their welcome. I mean it was a nice experiment, but this just fell short of my expectations… Full Review »
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