Released: 4/7/2014
5/7 Stars
Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks is easily the musical love child of Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors. No one can argue, as the side project of Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, former Dirty Projectors’ Angel Deradoorian and former Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman, the resemblance is understandable. This being said Enter the Slasher House is its own entity. The imagery is more blood soaked and yet is presented upbeat like a worn out twisted carnival that is not nearly as foreboding as the title suggests. It is peculiar electronic psychedelic rock tribute to old 60’s style rock n’ roll and campy horror films.
The first track of this album is “A Sender” whose lyrics that are hidden and echoed into the synth. They warn that “you sit so still, as we peak over your window sill, need to get up and hide.” As you start this album Avey Tare is trying to get you to Entering the Slasher House. The dense textures and bouncing synths create a wall of carefully controlled chaos in “Blind Babe.” The synths pulse between tracks as if they are just echoing and building into each other before they disappear. It's as is the synths are supposed to been spooky ghosts of the songs earlier on the album. The lead single “Little Fang” is the most musically straight forward song off of this album. With an intro that winds up like an old VHS recording “Catchy (Was Contagious)” is Afro Pop ecstasy with lyrics akin to describing communicable diseases. It ends much like the beginning, winding down as if the tape it was recorded on overheated and melted.
1) A Sender
2) Duplex Trip
3) Blind Babe
4) Little Fang
5) Catchy (Was Contagious)
6) That It Won’t Grow
7) The Outlaw
8) Roses On The Window
9) Modern Days E
10) Stranger Colors
“That It Won’t Grow” is a surprise favorite off of Enter the Slasher House. Starting off with the chorus and an intoxicatingly strong beat emphasized by the synth this mid album track catches and keeps attention. Soon it drops down to a softer melting ballad but with the ever present anxiety in Avey Tare’s vocals. Recorded live, this album feels more alive, like you are participating in a mini séance rather than simply watching one. But just as watching a slasher flick isn’t for everyone and once you see one it fills your quota for a while, Avey Tare Slasher Flicks will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Even saying that - Enter the Slasher House is worth a listen, although it may be a while before you ever listen to it again.
