Animal Collective‘s Noah Lennox (a/k/a Panda Bear) talks to Variety and reveals that he’s a little creeped out by old dudes writing about his band:
There’s an area of music journalism that has gotten more interested in this one. I don’t think ‘mainstream’ is the right word for it, but maybe an older journalistic world? An older group has gotten more excited about and that’s kind of weird.
Hey man, you’re talking to fucking Variety! What do you expect?
I’m happy to see Lennox acknowledge that there are bands besides the Beach Boys who’ve done multi-part harmonies. This sets him apart from most of the people writing about music these days:
The quality of the chord changes becomes a touchstone for the Beach Boys, so perhaps that’s another staple. We like all kinds of singing groups from the Zombies and the Beatles, to the Mommas and the Poppas [sic] and the Everly Brothers, but I guess the Beach Boys have become the poster child for multi-part harmony pop groups. It’s certainly flattering to be likened to a band like that; I’m just curious why it’s always them!
I’m curious, too. Whenever a band does harmonies, they’re always compared to the Beach Boys. The intern from Variety who typed up this interview doesn’t even know that it’s Mamas and the Papas, not Mommas and the Poppas. Come on!