It’s back to California with Sinister Grift, the fifth studio album from Panda Bear. Influences in surf rock and psychedelic pop are obvious from the jump. Opener “Praise” calls to Beach Boys smash Pet Sounds: complex harmonic layers over crystalline guitar, flouncy, lazily percussive. This style, a palm tree pivot for Panda Bear, runs through the album and makes for easy everyday listening.
Beneath this sonic pastiche however lies darker themes. Where Pet Sounds was all about coming of age in a sunny America, Sinister Grift is an update for a generation buffeted by uncertainty and broken promises. Relationships get complicated, anxieties cloud our vision, it’s doubt, sadness, loss all the way down. It’s painful to listen to at times, and so deeply personal.
Panda Bear wonders if we have ossified into the same old habits, doomed to repeat the same old patterns in life and in relationships. Maybe we’re not capable of change and maybe this is all there is. And maybe he’s not just talking about himself. Maybe he’s also telling the listener something they don’t want to hear either.
If this is all too much, then head back to the surface, because despite these challenging themes, Sinister Grift is a wonderfully produced album with plenty of melodies to simply enjoy. Besides, Panda Bear offers us a salve for his bitter truths on concluding track “Defense”, a collaboration with Cindy Lee: if everyone is flawed, we may as well accept ourselves, there’s really no other way.
Red Wine Hangover 
Leave a comment