Nothing frustrates a music critic more than a band that refuses categorization. Lots of bands, intoxicated with their own creativity, might make the claim. Not many, after a few records, resist a formula or a style that isn't easily pigeonholed in a pithy phrase or two.
On the basis of last year's critically acclaimed, acoustically based fifth album, "Sung Tongs," the four-piece Animal Collective was lumped into the "freak folk" category with the likes of singer-songwriter Devendra Banhardt and, to a lesser extent, harpist/singer Joanna Newsome. Listen to the preceding four records -- noisier, rawer, and much more electronic -- and that label is questionable.
"Feels," their poppy and expansive sixth album, released last month, jumps in another direction entirely. The opener, "Did You See the Words," rushes forward, propelled by a simple galloping rhythm, a burbling piano (courtesy of mum's Kristin Anna Valtysdottir) and electronica, all seamlessly weaved together into something that resembles a pop song -- minus the usual pop-song tropes.