Panda Bear returns; releases 'Tomboy'

Tomboy is Noah Lennox's, aka Panda Bear, fourth solo album and an object worth swooning over. Lennox is one part of the indie pioneers Animal Collective, whose fame skyrocketed after their 2009 release of the critically acclaimed album Merriweather Post Pavilion. Two years prior to Merriweather Post Pavilion, Lennox released his breakthrough solo album, Person Pitch. On it Lennox took samples of other songs and cut them together with his vocals in such transformational ways that it quickly became one of the most critically praised albums of 2007. Now, four years later, Lennox attempts to follow up Person Pitch's success with the release of the long awaited album Tomboy.  

Just like his other three albums, Tomboy touches on a style that Lennox has never shown before. Tomboy's sound is heavy and layered yet overtly simple. Instruments and voices echo and repeat over themselves for nearly the whole album, which provoke a rich and full sound that Panda Bear has become known for. It seems as if Lennox has hit a fine line. He has packed in so much noise on this album but has somehow managed to not make it overwhelming. Instead, it seems as if you are walled in by a fleet of instruments and speakers that are all hitting you at full force. I haven't managed to listen to this album in surround sound yet, but I can only imagine it being astonishing. 

The best songs on the album are the opening salvo. You can't go wrong with any of them. They are full of ambience and are a beautiful marriage of sound and idea. The standouts are "Last Night At The Jetty", one of the few positive sounding songs on the album, and "Slow Motion", with Lennox singing incoherently over a pounding combination of percussion and distorted guitar. Another exceptional track is "Surfer's Hymn", which is likely an ironic shot at all of the critics who have claimed that Lennox has a similar sound to The Beach Boys. Based on the title and sound of the song alone it is too obvious to be a coincidence. 

The album unfortunately tends to falter in the later songs, if only because Tomboy seems to be a little long. And while Panda Bear's sound on Tomboy is new and refreshing, it could have been a lot better if it was more compact. At the end of the day though that really is the only complaint I can muster. And the later songs have grown on me after repeat listens so it isn't much of one. The only thing that is a real complaint is that it took too long to get here and the hope that a follow up will present itself in less than four years.