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SHEARWATER

Shearwater / Animal Joy - SP957

  • 10921
  • 11254
  • 11255
  • 11256

We at Sub Pop are exceedingly proud to present Shearwater’s Animal Joy, our first album by the band and their eighth overall. Led by Jonathan Meiburg, and featuring drummer Thor Harris, and bassist Kimberly Burke, Shearwater has been a favorite at Sub Pop HQ for many years. Why? Fellow Shearwater fan Gerard Cosloy puts it nicely:

“It’s been suggested—by fans, detractors, even by the band’s founder—that Shearwater and whatever we call underground/indie/whatever-rock in this part of the century are not an obvious fit. And that’s true. So much of what we hear these days (the lousy stuff, anyway) is willfully insular; Jonathan Meiburg’s songs, by contrast, have constantly tackled bigger questions and been propelled by massive musical ambitions.

We’re in an era in which minimalism and lower-than-low-tech have come in vogue. By contrast, Shearwater’s recordings—the epic “Island Arc” trilogy of Palo Santo, Rook and The Golden Archipelago in particular—have been expansive in a fashion like none of their contemporaries. On Animal Joy, Meiburg has opted to ditch an approach that paid huge artistic dividends over his last three Matador albums for a record that seems shockingly direct, immediate and intensely personal. He’s no stranger to lush, crafted recordings, but this one sounds like no prior Shearwater incarnation.

Someone’s bound to label this Shearwater’s transitional album, but to these ears, it sounds like a thrilling artistic rebirth. Just give ’em the fucking Grammy already!"

Vinyl includes mp3 download code.

BLACK VINYL (red LOSER edition is sold out!)

Released: February 14, 2012

PRODUCT BUNDLES

Animal Joy + Gray T-Shirt
10921 + 11012

Animal Joy CD or LP + Gray T-Shirt

More info on Shearwater Gray (the bundled shirt).

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ADD TO CART
Animal Joy + Natural T-Shirt
10921 + 11013

Animal Joy + Natural T-Shirt

More info on Shearwater Natural (the bundled shirt).

ADD TO CART
ADD TO CART

TRACKS

  1. Animal Life
  2. Breaking the Yearlings
  3. Dread Sovereign
  4. You as You Were
  5. Insolence
  6. Immaculate
  7. Open Your Houses (Basilisk)
  8. Run the Banner Down
  9. Pushing the River
  10. Believing Makes It Easy
  11. Star of the Age

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