This Is Our Jam: Animal Collective, “Honeycomb”

As big a band as Animal Collective have become (and if you’ve seen them play the last few years, it’s astonishing just how big that is), they can't be accused of sacrificing their eccentricity as they’ve grown. If anything, new single “Honeycomb” is more frantic than anything on 2009's Merriweather Post Pavilion, with its cacophonous mixture of blips, thumps, zoinks, blurps, and (of course) harmonies. Avey Tare, taking over vocal duties, sounds particularly enlivened, attacking the melody with near-”Reverend Green” levels of intensity. It's a hyper-electric take on the Animal Collective formula, with a melody you have to chase after as it careens through a pinball-machine of spasmodic digital elements. Once you catch up, though, it's worth taking the time to chew on.