In the alt-rock era, the mainstream longed to sound like the underground and trends bubbled up from below. Sometimes, the flow of inspiration works in the other direction. How else to explain the prevalence of tiny indie artists trying to sound like Justin Timberlake, replete with stuttering beats, synthesizer squelches, and processed vocals? This is the approach of Rafter Roberts on Animal Feelings. Previous records by the San Diego-based producer contained messy, disjointed, and often stunning spazz-pop that combined his channel-flipping aesthetic with an ear for sweet melodies. Here, he's decided to gloss it up, take it to the dancefloor, and get dirty.
Unfortunately, Rafter seems to be missing the point of the artists that he's aping. His use of Auto-Tune on songs like "No Fucking Around" feels like an egghead's experiment. Amongst handclaps and a repetitive cowbell, he tries to urge the song forward with a Timberlake-like whispered come-on of "take it the chorus." But without blossoming into an actual memorable chorus, the words are just an impotent instruction. Elsewhere, like a little kid, Rafter uses profanity gleefully, as if he can't believe he has gotten away with repeating "you motherfuckers" over and over again on "Paper". It's like he's hoping to bait censors and trying for a "clean-version" whitewash, but since these songs are never going to be heard on commercial radio, who really cares? These songs are too clinical to be sexy, too affected to feel real.
There's only one out-and-out dud here, the embarrassingly bad "Love Makes You Happy", complete with spoken-word breakdowns and cheesy power chords. And there are a few brief glimpses of success, such as "Timeless Form, Formless Time (When It's Not Making You Sad)", which sounds like a breezy Islands track as played by a stomping marching band. Not coincidentally, the best moments happen to be when Rafter gives up on the heavy-breathing, R&B-influenced electro-pop theme.
It's a good thing that indie rock has an interest in erotic dancefloor come-ons and aggressively sensual R&B, and bands like Of Montreal have made careers of bringing sexy back to a certain type of audience. But while Animal Feelings has good instincts, it is still too cerebral and impressed with its own production flourishes to actually be fun. You can't make big-sounding pop if you can't write a killer hook or sing-along chorus. And Rafter, for all his production savvy, hasn't quite mastered those skills yet.
