Animal Collective Plan New EP, Tour
Canine freestyle to dominate upcoming tour

Now that their phenomenal new Sung Tongs LP has just been released in the UK and is slated for a June 1st street date in North America, experimental folk freax Animal Collective are wasting no time making more of their work available to fans, and are planning a series of forthcoming mini-releases to further flesh out the wanting A section of your CD collection.

While in England this past April, the AC boys spent a couple of days collaborating with underground folk paragon Vashti Bunyan; the three resulting tracks will be released as part of an upcoming EP, scheduled to drop later this year via Fat Cat Records. But first comes a seven-inch single for the Sung Tongs track "Who Could Win a Rabbit". Backed with a brand new non-album track titled "Baby Day", the short-player will be issued-- also via Fat Cat Records-- in July. Meanwhile, Animal Collective member Panda Bear is readying his solo debut, titled Young Prayer, for a fall release on the band's own Paw Tracks label, as well as the first Paw Tracks compilation.

Additionally, the band have finished up an utterly goddamn ridiculous video for "Who Could Win a Rabbit", featuring the band members dressed in-- oh man-- animal costumes. (Yeah, we know.) It's a updated take on the old "The Rabbit and The Hare" parable, with the two racing on bicycles. Frankly, we'd rather not think about it, as it tends to somewhat tarnish our image of the band as reclusive geniuses who've only made one of our favorite records of the year so far.

On the bright side, the band is gearing up for a later summer U.S. tour with Black Dice. So far, only a handful of dates have been announced, but more are likely to be scheduled. Yes:

08-19 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
08-22 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
08-23 Vancouver, BC - Brickyard
08-24 Portland, OR - Berbati's
08-25 San Francisco, CA - Independent
08-26 San Francisco, CA - Independent
08-27 Los Angeles, CA - Echo Lounge
08-28 Los Angeles, CA - Echo Lounge
08-31 Austin, TX - Emo's
09-01 Denton, TX - Hailey's

Fat Cat Records: http://www.fat-cat.co.uk