There are times when you really want to like something more than you do, you can't out your finger on exactly why but the nagging feeling remains, this is one of those times. The Silent Years second album 'The Globe' is an eclectic set and at 16 songs in length it's also quite a hard record to get through at times. Opening with a spiralling whirlwind of sound which sounds like the Flaming Lips caught in a vacuum cleaner, the album shifts between acoustic, string-laced pop, off-kilter psychedelia, dense shoe-gaze and meaty pop-rock in the space of just the first 4 songs. An early highlight comes in the form of 'On Our Way Home' which underlines The Silent Years way with an understated melody and dynamic song structures as tumbling drums and elegiac strings are matched by a melody that Rufus Wainwright would kill for. The song climaxes with a strident bridge section which piles on the kitchen sink with an earth shattering crescendo, it's a stunning moment and an incredible song. Further proving they can turn their hands to just about anything, 'Climb On My Back' sees the band letting loose a little. It's a born single with a killer, scuzzy chorus hook and I truly wish there were more songs of it's ilk on the record. The closest they get to repeating 'Climb On My Back's' winning formula is on 'The Worlds Worst Birthday Gift's,' a song with a stellar chorus that spends the rest of it's running time chasing it's tail looking for somewhere to head next.

The problem with this album is that for every fantastic song (or part of a song) there's a track (or part of a track) which comes across as more of an idea than a fully formed composition. 'Out Into The Wild' is a spiralling mess and 'Black Hole' sounds like The Maccabees bereft of charm, in some of these songs the feeling comes across that the band are trying too hard to be different, 'Black Holes' for example includes a section where the song randomly stops for several seconds before restarting. This completely ruins the flow of the track and comes across as one of the bands many calculated attempts at being 'different' for the pure sake of it. There are specific moments in songs too which left me just plain confused. 'Know Your Place' manages to shoehorn a transcendent melody and lyric ("your nearest neighbours still seem like their light years away) into an otherwise listless dirge and the closing 'TV>BJ' concludes with an epic burst of noise that appears seemingly out of nowhere, frankly it just doesn't feel earned.

All in all "The Globe" is a confusing record to review, if it were pared back to the 10 best tracks it would probably earn a cream of the crop sticker but as it stands there is just too much filler here, it feels like they just threw everything at a wall just to see what would stick. There are moments where the daring experimentation pays off (see the towering church organ on 'Goddamn You' or the a-cappella breakdown in 'Open Up Our Eyes') but more often than not some potentially great songs are just smothered to death.

If Animal Collective cared more about selling records but lost their quality control switch, The Globe is probably the album they would make. It's a flawed but frequently exciting album with sparks of genuine brilliance and a daring eclecticism that in these days of straight-laced mediocrity should really be commended.

Tracklisting:
1. Out Into The Wild
2. On Our Way Home
3. Climb On My Back
4. Black Hole
5. Ropes
6. The Sun Is Alive
7. Know Your Place
8. Goddamn You
9. The Worlds Worst Birthday Gift
10. Ageing Gracefully
11. The Axiom
12. Pay It Back
13. Open Up Our Eyes
14. Taking Drugs At The Amusement Park
15. Madame Shocking
16. TV>BJ

Recommended:
On Our Way Home / Climb On My Back / Goddamn You / The Sun Is Alive / The World's Worst Birthday / Pay It Back / Open Up Our Eyes