Experience 'Animal Joy'

Formed in 1999 by two members of Okkervil River, of which Jonathan Meiburg still remains, Shearwater makes a deliberate effort to work at its own pace.

“Animal Joy,” the band’s eighth album and its first released on indie giant Sub Pop, clocks in at just more than 43 minutes with 11 tracks.

While many of the tracks are fast and fun, including the opening track, “Animal Life,” at no point does the album seem overwhelming. The slow-paced, 6:25-minute “Insolence” provides a nice mid-album respite from the pacing.

This has effectively created a very listenable album — one that allows you to sink into a chair for a while and just soak it all in.

Don’t be surprised if you hear one of these Shearwater songs in the movie theater in the near future, as the Austinites’ sound lends itself perfectly to that type of format.

“You As You Were” would work perfectly in the next NYC-based Wes Anderson movie, with lines such as, “Go back to the East / Where it’s all so civilized.”

While a few tracks might blend one into the next, at no point is this a boring album. When thinking of pure animal joy, that’s a good thing.