I was actually glad to hear “Animal” on the new 90210 last week. The second most luscious (“Sans Soleil” wins that prize) and first most catchy track on Miike Snow‘s self-titled 2009 debut, fit perfectly with the elevated high school moment. “I change shapes just to hide in this place,” they sing. “But I’m still, I’m still an animal.”
If you’re making music meant to enable narratives, then placement on the better-written shows is something of a glory. I’m not crossing my fingers to hear Au on Gossip Girl or High Places on True Blood; that just wouldn’t make sense. But some things do make sense, and Pitchfork’s somewhat derogatory review of Miike Snow missed the point: this is an album of stories that grow over time (or maybe I’m just a different animal than the reviewer, who liked what I consider the only worthless song on the album, “Song for No One”).
Mike (ostensibly pronounced “Mike”) Snow is the first project by Swedish producers Bloodshy & Avant that features their own music. Their North American tour begins tonight in New York. Here they are (video) on KCRW.
