Ganser‘s Bandcamp biography goes into great detail about Animal Hospital, so much so that nearly every track of the record gets an explanation. The core concept, however, is this:
‘The right songs, strung together, give a revitalized vision of our surroundings, as if fresh eyes can be granted by rhythm alone, find new shapes for the weathered wireframe of the world and see the shadows as they dance with the light of day. “Animal Hospital”, the new LP from Chicago art punks Ganser, is a monument to observation, a tome of stray thoughts gathered while moving through a crowd coalesced into a collective take on the absurd contradictions of lives moving past.’
I like that sentiment. It made sense to me after two full listens of the album. The problem is that I don’t think the album makes a lot of sense otherwise without this band-provided context. That isn’t to say Animal Hospital is bad, or even average, but it’s important to consider the experience of absorbing a piece of artwork completely blind vs entering with a framework given by the artists themselves. A monument to observation certainly is an interesting sell, and gives some shape to what otherwise can be a puzzling listen.
Let me elaborate a bit. Animal Hospital has so many musical influences and genres that it can be hard to definitively list, but in no real order, you can find electronic, ambient, punk, new/no wave, something like doomjazz, and art rock on this record. You’ll also hear droning synths, hooky guitars, polyrhythmic drums, and disaffected vocals. Animal Hospital opens with the excellent lead single “Black Sand”, a kind of post-punk track driven by tom drums and hypnotic semi-spoken vocals that, strangely enough, reminded me of the fictitious Clash at Demonhead. Then we get into “stripe”, which could pass for a B-side off Glass Animals‘ ZABA. Huh.
That’s a large enough sonic shift as it is, but the rest of Animal Hospital ping-pongs back and forth between these two ideas–energetic and lethargic–in circles, sometimes feeling like a lost Ocarina of Time level and sometimes making it clear why they toured with IDLES. It’s not exactly an even split, either, as tracks 2-5 are substantially lower energy than the back half of the record, which doesn’t do it a lot of favors. I initially thought a major issue with the LP was the track order, but to be honest, I don’t have a clear enough solution to really commit to that criticism with my full chest. Moving on.
The latter end’s punk-adjacent sound is what really wound up tipping the scales in this album’s favor for me. “Half Plastic”, “Discount Diamonds”, and the intensely relatable “Lounger” are a handful of fun, exciting ‘art punk’ tracks that feel fresh. A lot of this is due to the creative and varied percussion, much of which is reminiscent of the later Talking Heads albums or even recent Turnstile. There’s a very palpable fuck-you energy emanating from the higher-juiced tracks on Animal Hospital, along with a few moments of intense sadness. “Discount Diamonds” weeps for the future (‘Kids don’t dance anymore / Killing time and keeping score’); “Dig Until I Reach the Moon” explores the exhaustion of modern life and everyday interactions (‘No more words / Don′t wanna talk / Forget all my language/ Live underground’). It’s a nice emotional mix, and the vocal delivery, while often of similar scansion, is effectively repetitive.
I want to be clear that my issues with the cohesion of Animal Hospital do not detract from the overall quality and are more metatextual than real, concrete criticisms. This is a very well-produced, well-performed album that showcases a ton of potential in a pretty green band, but it is clear they are on the up and up, considering they’re supporting Viagra Boys on a few tour stops.
I think I got hung up on the artist statement because it was so instantly illuminating to me, and the contrast of hearing the LP before and after reading it was intriguing. It made me think about whether artist intent and context matter when analyzing a work. I’ve decided that it does and it also doesn’t, especially when it comes to Animal Hospital. I liked this record a lot, I don’t think it accomplished exactly what it set out to, and that isn’t a huge deal at the end of the day. Sorry if that answer makes me sound like a jackass. Listen for yourself and turn in a report by Friday.
