Avey Tare

Alligator dude Avey Tare (a.k.a. David Portner) is the more devilish foil to the swopping and sweet Panda Bear in Animal Collective, the beloved indie outfit that has grown by leaps and bounds the past couple of years. While Panda Bear’s non-AC work reached a climax in 2007 with his third LP, Person Pitch, Tare’s comes with 2010’s Down There, a record that more or less follows in the footsteps of AC’s 2009 psych-pop masterpiece, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Substituting subterranean slipperiness for spiritual uplift and submerged-but-discernible hooks makes Down There a compact and instantly pleasing listen, even if it all goes down a little too easily. 

Updated 11/18/2011