Maybe it’s the weather, maybe it’s the Kamala afterglow – today calls for some sunshine pop.
Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) is part of the Animal Collective, a group of songwriter/producers who work together, separately and in various combinations on projects that usually bring an electronic/techno sensibility to pop, or vice versa. Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) isn’t part of that group, but he produced two of Lennox’s solo albums before they collaborated on 2022’s “Reset,” which was credited to both artists.
Lennox often works with samples. For a couple of tunes on “Reset” he used the opening bars of ’50s and ’60s pop hits that start off familiar before veering into new directions. It took me a minute to place the riff that opens “Gettin’ to the Point.”
“Edge of the Edge,” on the other hand, is instantly identifiable, but the result sounds like what might have happened if Buddy Holly had sent just the intro to Brian Wilson and let him finish the song.
