Rafter's Animal Feelings

Rating: 89

Track List:
1. No Fucking Around
2. A Frame
3. Timeless Form, Formless Time
4. Fruit
5. Feels Good
6. Animal Feelings
7. Paper
8. Never Gonna Die
9. Only You
10. Love Makes You Happy
11. Beauty, Beauty

To quote the venerable MrFukhed’s musing on Rafter’s YouTube video for “Paper,” “i bet theres gonna be a bunch of indie fucks swingin from the balls of this group.” As an indie fuck, I can attest to the categorical truth of this statement. Animal Feelings is the album I’ve been waiting for since Hot Chip’s The Warning. I feel I’ve failed in a major way since this review is the first I’ve heard of the work of Mr. Rafter Roberts; at least, it’s the first time I’ve been made aware of his presence. Setting up his own studio, Singing Serpent, with Glen Galloway required an exchange of manual labor for recording time with (this abridged list courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty) Fiery Furnaces, Black Heart Procession, Sufjan Stevens, Hot Snakes, Castanets, Gogogo Airheart, Rocket From The Crypt, Liz Janes, Arab on Radar, The Rapture, The Album Leaf, Bedroom Walls, Kill Me Tomorrow, Tristeza, The Peppermints, Rogue Wave, Tarantula Hawk, Maquiladora, Aspects of Physics, Upsilon Acrux, Howard Hello. So yes, I’ve certainly heard his work.

For those of you as shamefully ignorant as I, the good news is there really couldn’t be a better jumping off point into the world of Rafter than Animal Feelings. Like Animal Collective, working backwards through his catalogue ought to increase your appreciation of his earlier, more difficult material... although I do sometimes tell first-timers to give Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished a listen just so I can chuckle to myself. Rafter’s Music for Total Chickens is roughly equivalent to Pullhair, Rubeye in terms of blind ambition, but less dizzying. Rafter has always had his finger to the pulse of pop, which keeps his music a little more grounded, and Animal Feelings is the testament to that fact. As much as I love a good bout of indie-cred one-upmanship, at the end of the day, nothing sets these toes to tapping like a quality pop song.

For those of you admirably less ignorant than I, this LP might strike you as something of a curveball. Actually, to stay true to the baseball metaphor, it’s more like a fastball when you’re digging in for that knuckler. Right from the stretch, “No Fucking Around” comes straight down the middle--it’s the high heat, the stinky cheese; but enough of the baseball references. Literally, Rafter is flat out telling us there will be no fucking around with sampling snippets of improvised chaos and piecing together of randomized over-thoughts (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Previously Rafter made music for the mind, now he’s making it explicitly for the hips. The softly cooed verses meet up with beats and talk-boxing fresh enough to keep the hardest of rappers gan’sta, but it never feels tongue in cheek. “A-Frame” keeps us moving bringing in some playfully funky guitar licks and the always welcome baritone sax. “Timeless Form, Formless Time” has our hero succeeding in his mission of making adorable pop music that is completely un-lame. If that wasn’t close enough to pop perfection, “Fruit” unquestionably seals the deal. This is the song/album Nick Thorburn would make if he could only focus.

The real strength of this album is how tastefully the production brings the funk but tactfully pulls punches, never allowing the cowbells, handclaps, bari sax, talk-boxing and myriad other accentuations get tired. “Feels Good” in the middle is the perfectly timed slow-jam to soothe the almost certain dance-induced heat stroke of the absolutely unstoppable first half. Now everyone should know why Rafter is Asthmatic Kitty’s favorite producer. MrFukhed, to you I say, you could not be more right. This disc is my (and surely others of my ilk) wet dream. If there was some slide whistle and possibly some laser noises, I think I probably would have dancegasmed to death.