Plants and Animal Bands

Plants & Animals are a Montreal-based indie rock [blank] that began playing together as kids. Touring arduously for about five years [blank] their proper full-length debut in 2008, they pretty much made their records on the go until 2013. So the band's decision to be slow, deliberate and thorough on their latest offering Waltzed In From The Rumbling represents a major change of pace. Finally sleeping in there in own beds while recording, the band assembled the album [blank] the course of nine seasons. It's a return to their origins, but it also pushes audaciously forward. The aesthetic varies wildly and wonderfully from track to track, each song having its own hermetic seal but somehow still melding cohesively as a body of work. Jangling guitars and drums leaning toward the off-kilter swings of J. Dilla found sounds, a hint of shoegaze and unorthodox instrumentation come together to keep the ear constantly [blank] with a feeling of constant evolution. They found an antique guiro next to a broken VCR and recorded both. They made an empty fridge sound like a timpani drum. They recorded gossip on a city bus. They brought in classical string flourishes. They sometimes left mistakes if they felt they were perfectly imperfect. It's truly DIY, but with a feel of big production value that makes the album soar. Contemplative lyrics anchor the album through all the exploratory [blank] . The words are delivered melodically, belying their potency, but listening beyond the pretty aesthetic reveals piercing observations and an undeniable translation of feeling. The simplicity of the penetrating refrain on the three-part mini-opus "Je Voulais Te Dire" is a paragon of how the lyrics effortlessly cut through the instrumentation. Guitarist or vocalist Warren Spicer sings, "It's only loving, but you want it bad." encompassing how we try to avoid and downplay our desire for love and affection, but ultimately search and long for it anyway.