‘New Town Burnout’ is one of two tracks that Noah Lennox, known as Panda Bear by many a person, brought to the table when he and his fellow bandmates in Animal Collective set out to make Centipede Hz. The album turns ten in September this year, time flies, huh. The song was one that was a leftover from Lennox’s solo Tomboy project that had been released the year before. It’s fair to say that you can tell this was the case just by listening to them both. They share the same sonic similarities, a huge emphasis on its percussive elements and the low-end with enveloping reverb-drenched chord progressions on top. The main difference here though is that the track’s filled with all these snippets of samples and noises, in keeping with Centipede‘s alien band radio concept.

I didn’t get to Centipede Hz until about 2014. That was the year I was on my Animal Collective trip, trying to find as much of their music as I could. ‘New Town Burnout’ stuck out as a highlight to me, I think on that second or third listen, and with all the listens since then I continue to find little moments, melodies and other oddities in the mix that are never so apparent on the first try. Like how when Panda starts singing his verse, there’s this other vocal that mirrors his, but is continually ascending and descending. It’s hard to describe. It’s hard to describe a lot of things on here actually. There are guitars, but they don’t sound like them. There are these ‘hoo-hoo-hoo’ vocals which might not even be vocals. The only thing that remains consistent is the booming rhythm. Very hypnotizing when you focus on it, and it’s only interrupted by those erratic synths that then transition into the next track.

Panda Bear’s a family man. He likes the simple things in life. He’s written plenty of songs that echoes those sentiments. And ‘New Town Burnout’ is no different in that it’s about being bored with touring, and wanting to go home and sit down in peace for a bit. When he makes it back to his place, he’ll take off his shoes and coat, he’ll put his belongings someplace (doesn’t really matter where, he’ll know where they are) and sleep without having to worry about the things that usually arise when on the road. Can’t say I’m in the position where I can relate, but he sings it very well and sounds very earnest which is want you always want from a song. When he goes for those higher notes for the “No more at the wrong…” lyrics, it’s always a thumbs up. And as the track nears its end, he lulls the listener to slumber with those elongated repetitions of “Light” before stressing that “t” sound on the beat. Words don’t do the music much justice, but it’s good, good stuff.