Reset

Album / Artist: RESET / Panda Bear & Sonic Boom

Label: Domino Recording Company

Release Date: August 12, 2022
Review Date: 1/8/2023
Reviewer: DJ Stace

General Comments / Reviews:

A glorious playful ode to Brian Wilson.

Release Notes:

Reset is an album by Panda Bear and Sonic Boom (the respective stage names of Noah Lennox and Peter Kember). It marks the duo’s first collaborative album; Kember had previously co-produced Lennox’s Tomboy (2011) and Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (2015).

FCCs: None

RIYL: Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Brian Wilson & his Beach Boys

Play: All, Favs Rated with up to *****

Tracklist:

1. ***** Gettin’ To The Point 2:30 - Joyous, uptempo flamenco-guitar driven Beach Boys song, seemingly created by a generative AI.
2. Go On 4:46 - Robotic, spaceship pop. Layers of harmony with 80’s arcade battle soundbeds.
3. *** Everyday 3:52 - Low-toned, repetitive, midtempo, snappy, strumming and buzzy, and somehow also light and uplifting.
4. **** Edge Of The Edge 4:48 - Another heavenly 4-part harmony-layered midtempo Brian Wilson song that Brian Wilson never wrote.
5. *** In My Body - 3:51 - Slow, psych-tape-loop beauty. Bass and vocals are dominant.
6. *** Whirlpool 5:01 - Midtempo droning trance dancer with light harmonic interludes.
7. ***** Danger 5:38 - Another mid-tempo bright guitar-centric harmonic layer cake.
8. **** Livin’ In The After 2:54 - 70’s Movie Soundtrack Bossa Nova rhythms, more layers of harmony, castanets & strings.
9. *** Everything’s Been Leading To This 5:08 - Video game theme music intro gives way to everything but the kitchen sink… Jingle bells, harmonies, space invaders synths all crescendoing and then ending in a long fade.