Floating just underneath the radar, Post Animal might just be producing some of the most experimentally-unique sounds in their peer group. With their latest release Forward Motion Godyssey (released February 14th via Polyvinyl) added to their repertoire, they might just reinvent the wheel and finally break out into mainstream consciousness.
The band—Dalton Allison (bass), Jake Hirshland (guitar/keyboard), Javi Reyes (guitar), Wesley Toledo (drums), and Matt Williams (guitar)—are a brotherhood of sorts (as many Chicago bands are!) and that unbreakable system comes through in their musical execution. It’s clear that in the two years the band has had in between now and their last full LP, they’ve been hard at work, and it paid off effortlessly. This release takes typical psychedelic Post Animal-isms and spins them on their head, implementing a synth-heavy, new wave amplification that keeps things feeling fresh and new.
The album begins by lulling listeners into a hypnotic trance with “Your Life Away.” This, the longest track on the record by just a hair, is a smooth transition into the chaos that lies ahead. It’s as if the band is in the midst of a dream-like state, questioning the past, present, and future through an omnipotent lens with lines such as “Life’s a lot of sleeping, though / I’ll get some problems resolved in my dreams.”
Through channeling the sounds of a classic video game soundtrack and smashing it into a blender with Van Halen-esque guitar solos, the song ends on a euphoric note. This appears to be a theme throughout the record: it feels nostalgic of 80s psych-rock, but also a step above anything anyone has ever done before. They’ve created their own genre, their own path in the sand, and they’re trekking forward with certainty.
One of the record’s first singles, “Fitness,” introduced that unique point of view, helping it stand out as one of the record’s most haunting. The combination of the eery chant-like vox—”Run with me, fitness is all I know”—and subtle background instrumentation makes listening to it a total trip. One comment on the band’s YouTube channel noted that the song sounds “like a Home Depot ad tbh,” which is startlingly accurate if you ignore the cult-ish vibe it gives off otherwise.
Though biased beyond words, it must be said that any self-titled track from recent memory doesn’t come close to rivaling “Post Animal.” The song is quintessentially high-velocity; as it slowly fades into focus, one can only imagine the crowd-kill that would ensue once Allison joins in on bass. The thought of losing my mind to it live gets my heart pumping already, and that makes this one of the album’s brightest stars for me.
Tracks such as “In a Paradise” are further proof of their mind-melting abilities: around the 3-minute mark, things go absolutely berzerk (and there’s no better way to describe it) as the boys turn it up and a notch or ten, letting an instrumental hurricane loose. If anything, the image of an eagle in a tailored suit will keep me up for decades.
Aside from allowing the guys to flex their songwriting muscles, this record also shows Post Animal at their most vulnerable and emotionally lenient, which is something we haven’t seen much of this far into their career.
“Damaged Goods” is a perfect example—with lines such as “Now that ‘it’s’ made you / Are you really whole?,” that sense of grappling with personal fulfillment is clear. The question as to what “it” refers to when pondering what it means to have “it” all (fame? success?) is all-encompassing, even as you nod your head along to the mesmerizing melody.
“Schedule,” one of the record’s most musically upbeat, is one of the most lyrically heart wrenching as it describes feeling inadequate within a relationship and wondering if you can truly “blindly trust within the universe.” At the end of the day, we all have questions, and they aren’t all going to be answered; with that in mind, we might as well make our way through the mess that is life with someone we care about close to us.
Though the general public might know only know of Post Animal due to their association with Stranger Things’ Joe Keery’s or simply due to their most well-known single, “When I Get Home,” this record will hopefully ensure that they’ll be pushed into wider recognition. If one thing’s for sure, Post Animal is a different kind of beast and definitely one you don’t want to mess with. They’ve emerged, guns blazing and hoping to start any kind of riot they can.
Post Animal’s new Album ‘Motion Forward Godyssey’ is out now.