After the massive success of “Stereotyping People By Their Favorite Indie Bands,” we take another cue from the great Lauren Leto, this time inspired by her article on “How to Fake Like You’ve Read Dostoevsky.” Much like the knowledge that “Dostoevsky got exiled to Siberia because he’s a badass motherf*cker” will get you through a pal’s snooty MFA mixer, this handy dandy guide on Animal Collective will enable you to engage with the most rabid and literate of Animal Collective fans. Let the faking begin.
1. Being a true Animal Collective fan is to not actually like Animal Collective. That is, you must claim to enjoy the side projects of Animal Collective more than the band itself. Say that Panda Bear’s sophomore album, Person Pitch
2. Know your Deakin. Animal Collective has four members: Panda Bear, Geologist, Avey Tare and Deakin. The thing is, they seem to take their “collective” title literally, and not all band members contribute to every release. For instance, the last album Deakin played on was 2007′s Strawberry Jam
3. Geologist is nicknamed Geologist because someone thought he was studying geology at Columbia University. He never actually studied geology. For a humorous aside, say something like, “Still, it’s sort of appropriate because he looks like Geodude, a rock type Pokemon.”
4. Your favorite Animal Collective album is NOT Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. Notice that in “faking it” to Animal Collective, you rarely, if ever, talk directly about their music. This is not a mistake. A conversation with an AC fan is never about the music. In fact, it’s not even a conversation — it’s a competition. The goal is to prove that your enjoyment of AC is more authentic than that of your buddy. Achieve this through thinly veiled insults. “Oh…’My Girls’ is your favorite song? If I hadn’t heard anything else from the Animal Collective discography, that would be my favorite song too! We have so much in common.”
Comments (61)
[...] popularity still baffles you then check out this humorous post on Flavorwire titled ‘How to Fake Like You’ve Listened to Animal Collective’. It’s a lighthearted look at the one-upmanship often seen when cult or indie bands manage to [...]
Nice work. Big fan of this!
Person Pitch is pretty entry level too, you know. Sung Tongs, man. Sung Tongs ;)
strawberry jam is my favorite and i ain’t no entry level ac lover fuck you :(
lmao forever
hilarious!!!
hahah enjoyed reading this one x)
my favorite of theirs though is Sung Tongs.
Feels is a pretty great favorite album. it actually is personally my favorite, but you can say it’s old enough to be “authentic” and new enough to sound like you don’t care about being ridiculed by the elitists.
[...] “LOL. I’ve said this: ‘Oh…’My Girls’ is your favorite song? If I hadn’t heard anything else from the Animal Collective discography, that would be my favorite song too! We have so much in common.’ http://flavorwire.com/60736/how-to-fake-like-youve-listened-to-animal-collective#more-60736“ [...]
this is fucking stupid. Its sad if people really do this
this is wack. geologist is called geologist because he wears a head lamp, deakin isn’t in africa yet, he just played a show in baltimore and is raising money for his trip to said music festival. here comes the indian is coo, but if anyone told me that was their favorite ac album, i would punch them in their pretentious face. sung tongs all day.
On the contrary:
“How about Geologist?
GEOLOGIST: I studied science in college. Somebody thought I studied Geology even though I never did. Anyway it just kind of stuck after that. ”
http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/archives/2005/02/the_animal_coll.html
Also: Deakin is in Mali: http://stereogum.com/archives/video/animal_collectives_deacon_plays_first_solo_gig_hea_107081.html
You my friend, are entry level.
What kills me is that I really do like Person Pitch better than most of the AC albums, it’s not some elitist bull shit, I just like it.
i would say shut the fuck up because to say “A conversation with an AC fan is never about the music” but indiscreatly i know that ill be bash by some dude when i say animal collective is the new beatles and personaly my TWO favorite albums is feels and strawberry jam and no im not fakin so passionatly shut the fuck up
I’ve tried and i’ve struggled to enjoy an co. You are 100% right on here. Lmfao !
oh snap, Stelios!
feels is my fave. alot of people hate this band. my girlfriend can’t stand them. she listens to britney spears though so it’s understandable
maybe you think you are an elitist? when you write a blog entry like this it’s just cutting off your nose to spite your face. who gives a fuck!
prestono got pwned by stelios.
Just stop trying to be hipster runoff. if people want to read things like this, leave it to them. this shit is just stupid, especially because it’s on this website. let’s try some worthwhile posts, please. the pretentious and elitist attitudes displayed recently are overwhelmingly annoying. flavorpill isn’t supposed to be like this.
stop being such bitches
play nice kittens. person pitch is easily the best record that panda bear has ever been a part of. why don’t we phrase it that way. record of the decade? maybe. if it’s tied w/ the strokes ‘is this it’. i hate kittens. to j above, HRO used to be fun to read, now it’s just kinda sadish, or bluish.
This is pretty offensive. Both to An Co and their fans. are you honestly implying that the only reason people like a.c is to “out do” their friends, because there’s actually NO WAY people might actually LIKE the music?
I don’t really like Animal Collective anyway. Sung Tongs is an awesome album though. What do you think’s going to happen in 20 years? Do you all think you can keep up with all the indie bands as time passes? It’ll change from indie to classic tunes all too soon, and we’ll be just like our parents, only listening to one station, annoying our children. Just remember to progress. Don’t get stuck with the same ethereal melodies. It’s All Good.
Everyone who likes something should feel bad and everyone who doesn’t like something should be stroked and massaged with the knowledge that their viewpoint is the majority.
One of the few things you can consistently achieve with success thru democracy is a dislike for some art or music. This is lazy.
i’m so glad i know next to nothing about this ‘collective’. i borrowed my brother’s car a few years ago to drive out to the hamptons, and one of their records was in the cd player. i don’t remember anything about, other than i thought i was supposed to be impressed. and yes, hipsters, it’s ok to laugh at yourselves. just sayin.
this is hillarious and also a complete waste of time.
Yeah, I caught those guys at a house party where the rum punch tasted more like vodka & tater soup served up with a side of pixie stick. The house’s PA hissed with every low frequency thump, further distorting AnCO’s soon-to-be signature sonic wanderings. I liked them then. A undeniable charm bled through every blip and bleep back then. Now they are just commoditizing their sound to a new found internet fan base. Good for them, I just can’t enjoin myself to the masses.
Hilarious and bad boys and girls talking serious bout this article, did they read the intro about Doste, uh Dosto, well whatever his name was. :-D
y’all need to get out more
[...] de flavorwire] Posted by manzarock Filed in Cacas sagradas Leave a Comment [...]
I always though animal collective was boring.
yeah for experimentation! whatever.
Give me Ke$ha’s pop formula anytime.
it’s spirit they’re gone, spirit they’re vanished, not they’ve.
u got served
hahaha this is awesome. the comments are almost better than the blog itself . I imagine the author is an AnCo fan themselves. You guys take yourselves way too seriously. Take some time to laugh at oneself and you may enjoy life a bit more….
very pretentious and definitely inaccurate at times but surely put a smile on my face. i’m pretty much up for any and all projects, though (caution :: wait for the king hip comment) i was much more into a live radio session of panda bear’s where he played most of person pitch than the actual studio album. (ma fama – - http://mafama.blogspot.com/2007/01/panda-bear-m-fama.html)
Attn Emily Chorno:
WRONG
hahaha this is awesome [2]
“Your favorite Animal Collective album is NOT Merriweather Post Pavilion” and “Know your Deakin” are the best observations.
hahahaha
loved.
what about panda’s self-titled record? doesn’t that make young prayer his sophomore, and person pitch, the junior? or am i just being “elitist?”
yeah emily chorno stfu
Hahaha this is amazing. I love how everyone has to prove how big of a fan they are by saying “no no this is really my favorite album”. Stop crying babies. Geologist is primarily called Geo because of the Geology confusion, but also because of the headlamp that he wears. So prestono wasn’t TOTALLY in the wrong.
hey i was part right. spirit they’re gone, spirit they’ve vanished
This is genius. I’ve always felt not cool enough to listen to Animal Collective, and this article proves it. I love “Fireworks” and “My Girls,” meaning I’m stone cold busted!
[...] pode levar horas e pedir pros seus amigos hipsters pode ser um tanto embaraçoso. Pensando nisso, esses caras, fizeram um passo-a-passo pra que você possa fingir que tá realmente escutando Animal Collective. [...]
I didn’t know bringing up pokemon would get you in with AC fanz. O__o
this is stupid let people like what they want to like.
[...] Above: How to fake like you’ve listened to Animal Collective. Just follow these easy steps, and in no time you’ll be shedding 10 perhaps even 15 pounds of [...]
lol, so true. never knew that about deaken either, thx
I’ll say it: Animal Collective is unlistenable crap. Stop trying to fool yourselves, the emporer isn’t wearing any clothes. Just because it sounds avante garde and difficult doesn’t mean you have to pretend to like it. Saying it’s inaccessible doesn’t mean you’re stupid. So let’s all stop pretending this band is worth a shit and listen to music that is actually supposed to make you FEEL something other than the sense you’re listening to four guys masturbating.
not much music has provoked emotion more in me than animal collective. maybe early libertines and jeff buckley’s grace. other than that collective are the most thought provoking for those who find themselves able to relate to it. and enjoying it doesn’t make you superior or inferior, in the same way that some very musically aware people will think led zeppelin are geniuses and i can’t stand them. so basically, stop taking this article and yourselves too seriously. very funny article. and for the record, i see myself as a fairly avid (and british!) animal collective fan but merriweather is the only album of any artist that i’ve lay in bed with my eyes shut, smiling for the duration of it. i’ll brace myself for the inevitable barrage of abuse now…
Its funny cause im a totally just started listening to AC and all my friends make fun of me cause merriwater post is my favorite album and I think person pitch is a ridiculous waste of time
These things infuriate me. Such an uninformed and ‘too cool for school’ take on an original and brilliant band.
Ugh, all this “allow me to show you the ropes of being TRULY indie” makes me sick. Get the fuck off your high horse. I happen to like Animal Collective simply because they’re music sounds good to my ears. I really don’t know why it has to be some complicated, rocket science bullshit as to why people like them/listen to them/appreciate them. Really? Who the fuck are you trying to impress? Shit, it’s MUSIC for fucks sake.
Keep blogging your weak attempts at trying to be funny, ironic, witty and “indie” and leave reality to the rest of us. A friend once told me the more someone brags about being something, the less they are of the topic they’re bragging about. You have proven that statement to be horrifyingly true.
Wow, this is just pathetic. Who cares if you’re an entry level AC fan? The point is their music’s good and whoever says you aren’t a fan because they know more about the band’s personal lives is a moron. You don’t need to be a fuckin analyst of all aspects of the band to be a fan. People forget that it’s the music that made them like the band in the first place. Not the other bullshit people seem to find more important. Get over yourselves. Nobody cares that you know more about the fucking side projects. I am an AC fan because I like most of the songs they’ve made. There are very few I don’t care for but so what? Not every song’s going to be amazing to everyone.
you guys are taking this too seriously. most of it is funny. also, most of it is true.
who the fuck is animal collective?
i’m a big animal collective fan. there are some songs that rock and some that are ok. i just think that their songs are melodic, beautiful and one of a kind. however, i do laugh at some of the things people say about them. i found this article funny and i think that some of you are a little sensitive.
oh, and merriweather post/strawberry are their best fucking albums, coming from someone who’s heard all of them, okay?
you’re a really funny asshole. really. strawberry jam is the shit
I personally enjoy Here Comes the Indian and Feels. Feels has that still-pop-ish yet out there sound. Here Comes the Indian is An album I listen to in a dark room to reflect. Oh and Tomboy blows person pitch outta the fuckin’ water.
WOW! I am sorry I came into this riveting conversation so late! Was thinking this was just another piece about Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire. Goes to show never ever assume anything.Anirudhya Great piece! So short and yet so insightful and to the point. I have to say I have been a great admirer of SM along with millions of others but you have given me an insight that I never considered. Its a national pride that I feel strongly about my own country. It finally sank in, how a foreigner picked on India in a way Like people who say I can talk s**t about my mother but if someone else does, god help them!!Anyway, on the subject of the short film, call me a prude, call me old fashioned, call me all kinds of conservative names in the book, although I know this kind of scum exist in the world, I DONT want to see it in my movies. I think the short film was a very poor choice. But to Mr. Boyles defense, and as Mr. Kashyap points out, he probably had very little to choose from. There seldom are great shorts about India which deal with anything other than squalor and poverty
LMAO this article is hilarious and the comments even more so. The best part is that some comments have ended up being the definition of the pretentious people this article is (humorously) describing. People take themselves way too seriously.
If that’s really Bradford Cox ^, you are my idol
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