Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks’ - Enter the Slasher House

Austin – Though the band name and cover art might suggest some sort of black metal nightmare, Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks’ “Enter the Slasher House” is more like a whimsical fun house. If anything, this album was created from the trappings of a bad acid trip, though it’s one I enjoy living in through the forty-five minute album. The opening track, “A Sender,” repeats “I wanna get off that ride” but the music continues to swirl around as a bad drug trip might.

Working with Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) and Jeremy Hyman (Ponytail), Animal Collective’s Avey Tare has crafted a sonically pleasing album that could spark the interest of a pop fan with enough complexity to keep an experimental fan engaged. The standout track is undeniably, “Little Fang,” a bouncy tune no Animal Collective fan could deny might have fit perfectly on 2009’s “Meriwether Post Pavilion.” The track that repeats “and if it ever starts to feel bad/little fang little fang little fang,” feels like it was taken right out of Disney’s haunted mansion with creepy voices hiding subtly in the background as Tare says “hey Mr. fuzzy face” and hints of classic horror film scores. Most fitting is the video where we follow a puppet cat in a clown collar through a trippy old timey haunted set as eyes trail behind him.

One of the most impressive aspects of both Avey Tare and his Animal Collective brethren has always been the childlike wonder that fills their music. It has the ability to ignite imagination in even the most up tight adults and if they can’t abandon this frigidness for the length of the album, well they probably won’t enjoy it. This experimentation is the reason this artist has lasted through the years and is able to bring a new project to the table and find a reason to call that project something different than the last.

Another stand out track, “That it Won’t Grow” includes Tare’s signature yells peaked through the chorus over buzzing electronics that seem to speak along with him at certain points. He creates balance in the track with light twinkling bells that are unexpected but add so much to the atmosphere of the song. The subtleties in the song are what give them each a Slasher Flick touch–to feel as though your hearing voices or someone is watching you.

“The Outlaw” has a symphonic and cinematic feel, as though you’re running from something. There are so many changes within the track, from symphonic to a repetitive guitar chord that escalates along with a drum beat, to minimal instrumentals besides drum crescendos and vocals that boast “the outlaw is the future,” to soft mourning violins at the end of the track. The ghostly, “Roses on the Window” might be the closest we get to a love song with quiet “oohs” and the gargling of instrumental ghouls.

Avey Tare has given us the soundtrack to an adult horror cartoon from the darkest depths of his mind. For those who plan to see him this summer at festivals like Austin Psych Fest, don’t drink from the blue cups until after his set. You’ve been warned (cue evil laugh).

For more on Avey Tare’s Slasher House go HERE.

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Ilyse Kaplan

Growing up in Boston, MA, Ilyse Kaplan was an avid music fan so she followed her passion to Los Angeles.Unable to decide whether to be Penny Lane or William from "Almost Famous," she combined their best assets--William's writing skills and Penny's fashion--and joined her guitarist boyfriend Southwest.Though missing her old haunts like The Echo and The Satellite, she has warmly embraced the Austin music community and looks forward to sharing the hidden gems she comes across wandering aimlessly down east 6th st.Her record collection holds no boundaries from 60's Yeh Yeh girls like Francoise Hardy to her imaginary hip hop boyfriend, Drake.From the kings of morose, The Smiths, to the reigning queen, Taylor Swift.Having written for publications such as Variety, LADYGUNN, and Filter in the past, she looks forward to reporting Austin's Best New Bands live from the scene.