Eucalyptus

Avey Tare - Eucalyptus
Critic Score
Based on 22 reviews
2017 Ratings: #825 / 940
User Score
Based on 100 ratings
2017 Rank: #497
Liked by 6 people
July 21, 2017 / Release Date
LP / Format
Domino / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

80
Exclaim!

A sort of If I Could Only Remember My Name for a new generation, Eucalyptus finds Portner going back-to-basics, taking listeners on a psychedelic but steady trip over 15 tracks with atmospheric and shifting samples ("Lunch Out of Order" Pt. 1 and 2), Sung Tongs-style guitar work ("Jackson 5," "PJ" and opener "Season High") and spaced-out instrumentation (the twisted "Boat Race" and lo-fi drone of "Dr aw one").

80
The Guardian

There are a few too many noodling sound collages across its 15 tracks, but at its peak – on the delicate, maudlin Ms Secret or the chirpingly melodic Jackson 5 – Eucalyptus reminds you of what made Tare and his bandmates such a thrillingly different prospect in the first place.

80
The 405

The overflow of ideas, lyrics, and themes doesn’t turn spastic and blurry like it has on records past. Eucalyptus, though adventurous, is down to earth and focused.

80
Drowned in Sound

He’s revisiting some of the most fertile soil of his past work - bringing together his childlike enthusiasm with his penchant for gloomy undercurrents - and making it all sound as fresh and blissful as ever. It’s undoubtedly Avey’s best solo work to date

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

Eucalyptus stands unexpectedly far apart from much of Avey Tare’s solo output, dialing in his usual unhinged zaniness for a calm, collected stream of songs that flirt with accessibility without sacrificing their loose, dispersed sense of assemblage.

76
Pitchfork

Recorded with Animal Collective part-timer Josh Dibb, Avey Tare’s Eucalyptus could never be accused of pandering—no album as slack and rickety as this has sights on the masses—yet in some ways it embodies a romantic ideal that’s nearly as sure-fire as Merriweather’s imagining of a perfect pop album: the reclusive, personal record, written seemingly with no expectation that anybody will even hear it.

65
Under the Radar
Not that this record is a great departure from his past discography, but if you are looking for the "Reverend Green" screaming Avey Tare to make an appearance, you will be disappointed. Still, this is David Portner at his most raw and exposed, a songwriter who has never been afraid to bridge the gap between the experimental and the familiar.
65
The Line of Best Fit

With Eucalyptus it's clear that Avey Tare is not going for coherency, as he's brought together a sonic smorgasbord of home tapings, demos and found sounds, and pieces them together in a way that’s beguiling and confusing in equal measure.

60
Northern Transmissions
Dropping listeners into sprawling soundscapes through each track, there’s rarely anything boring sounding, but it’s not always a constant thrill-ride. Hovering on many ideas for too long, Tare straddles the line between brilliant and out of control.
60
DIY
‘Eucalyptus’ is a dense and challenging listen, but while it might alienate post-‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ converts to Animal Collective, it might bring back those who loved ‘Campfire Songs’ but have felt disenfranchised since.
60
AllMusic

With a playing time of over an hour, and a reflective, more often than not formless complexion, even acknowledging its subtle whimsy and California roots, Eucalyptus goes by like a long drive through the plains, rewarding the patient and attentive.

58
A.V. Club

This improvisatory sense of discovery was likely purposeful, as it complements the album’s themes; the elements of each song emerge as scraps of memory—a sound here, an image there, an offhand phrase—that can never quite coalesce. But while Eucalyptus is undoubtedly intriguing, it’s only occasionally enjoyable as music.

40
Loud and Quiet
There are commendable moments on the second solo album from Animal Collective’s principle songwriter, but they are so infrequent as to resemble needles within a dense haystack of meandering claptrap, rendering the search for them at first rather demoralising and then almost mythical.
40
The Independent
The free rein afforded by this latest solo effort renders most of these 15 tracks unrecognisable as songs, with Tare’s heavily reverbed murmuring of cryptic lyrics ... awash in meandering miasmas of woozy glissandi, thrumming rhythm guitar, wispy synth tones, detuned slide guitar, jews harp and backdrop collages of found-sounds, rippling waves, talking and, for all I know, the kitchen sink.
KingIsCole10
67

I love when Avey really leans into experimenting with psychedelia but I think this album feels a little too spacey overall making it a little boring at parts. Lyrically it’s very emotive and his emotion is there though I didn’t always it’s was being communicated through the music as well as it could of been. My favourite tracks are Melody Unfair, Ms. Secret and In Pieces.

Doofy
77

Always my favourite member of AnCo, with this trippy and adorably rambling effort he’s only gone and released the best Collective affiliated music since...ooh, at least since ‘Fall Be Kind’.

alvinrow
79

Apart from the last two magnificent Panda Bear's albums, this is the best anco-related release since Down There.

KingIsCole10
67

I love when Avey really leans into experimenting with psychedelia but I think this album feels a little too spacey overall making it a little boring at parts. Lyrically it’s very emotive and his emotion is there though I didn’t always it’s was being communicated through the music as well as it could of been. My favourite tracks are Melody Unfair, Ms. Secret and In Pieces.

TylerB
80

Calls back on some of the childlike and eclectic acoustic ideas of some of Animal Collective's early work with a blend of soundscapes and movements that swell and morph into stunning highs and remind of the emotional lows felt on Down There.

75

動物集合首腦之一的分支個人計畫,當年首張專輯《Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished》堪稱新迷幻的經典大作(沒想到也發行20年了......)。尤加利樹這張專輯比較多個人沉溺式的即興民謠,較少萬花筒般的奇異聲源,偶有佳作,喜歡動物集合的人當然還是乖乖入手。

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Track List

1Season High
5:46
65
2Melody Unfair
5:06
68
3Ms. Secret
5:31
70
4Lunch Out of Order, Pt. 1
1:43
49
5Lunch Out of Order, Pt. 2
1:51
45
6Jackson 5
3:46
56
7DR Aw One for J
3:11
55
8PJ
4:12
56
9In Pieces
3:04
58
10Selection of a Place
6:06
60
11Boat Race
2:15
49
12Roamer
2:45
65
13Coral Lords
8:02
70
14Sports In July
4:45
53
15When You Left Me
4:11
59
Total Length: 1 hour, 2 minutes
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Added on: June 6, 2017