Animal Collective's Noah Lennox (a/k/a Panda Bear) talks to Variety and reveals that he's a little creeped out by old dudes writing about his band:
There's an area of music journalism that has gotten more interested in this one. I don't think 'mainstream' is the right word for it, but maybe an older journalistic world? An older group has gotten more excited about and that's kind of weird.
Hey man, you're talking to fucking Variety! What do you expect?
I'm happy to see Lennox acknowledge that there are bands besides the Beach Boys who've done multi-part harmonies. This sets him apart from most of the people writing about music these days:
The quality of the chord changes becomes a touchstone for the Beach Boys, so perhaps that's another staple. We like all kinds of singing groups from the Zombies and the Beatles, to the Mommas and the Poppas [sic] and the Everly Brothers, but I guess the Beach Boys have become the poster child for multi-part harmony pop groups. It's certainly flattering to be likened to a band like that; I'm just curious why it's always them!
I'm curious, too. Whenever a band does harmonies, they're always compared to the Beach Boys. The intern from Variety who typed up this interview doesn't even know that it's Mamas and the Papas, not Mommas and the Poppas. Come on!
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If the dude wants to stop being compared to the Beach Boys, then maybe he should try sounding less like Carl Wilson when he sings.
Also, I'm tired of this hipster bullshit regarding the qualifying of who likes your music. Is there some sort of age/place of residence/haircut/couture requirement? Jeez. This dude is lucky enough people like his band's crap. Yet, he's questioning their interest, while--as Jake pointed out--giving an interview to a mainstream publication. Amazing.
The incredibly complicated answer to Noah's question is: they get compared to the Beach Boys so often because on some songs they SOUND so much like the Beach Boys (and not like the Beatles or Zombies or M&P).
I knew absolutely nothing about AC except that a co-worker kept telling me how great they were, so I bought Meriweather Post Pavilion a couple of weeks ago. And guess what: during the first listen, the Beach Boys came immediately to mind. Does that make me (or the rest of the world) ignorant of other bands who layer in harmonies? Nope. Does it mean a couple of MPP songs could have been sneaked into Pet Sounds? Probably.
'If the dude wants to stop being compared to the Beach Boys, then maybe he should try sounding less like Carl Wilson when he sings.'
really?! c'mon
Where we goin'? Carl logged more miles with "God Only Knows" than Brian and floated around the Beach Boys harmony range as needed. But if it make you feel better to namecheck Brian again, then there you go. Brian used to compare Carl's voice to that of an angel, but I suppose the Twin Cities know better, don't they?