Atlas Sound - Walkabout

Reviewed by Mark Corcoran-Lettice

Well here’s one for the picture book. Bradford Cox and Panda Bear, both standard bearers for the school of American Alternative Rock, Class ‘08-’09, have both been touring partners and mutual fans for a long time, but ‘Walkabout’, the first single from the Atlas Sound (Bradford’s solo project) record Logos, marks the first time the two have appeared together on record.

Riding largely on an organ sample from the Dovers’ ‘What Am I Going To Do’, the celebratory nature of the track initially appears much more a product of Panda Bear than Atlas Sound, boasting an optimism and lightness of feel rarely found in Bradford Cox’s tense, claustrophobic work. But the devil is very much in the details, and amongst the duo’s jubilant chanting, Cox’s trademarks slowly appear: a slightly worn, faded production style that renders the sound nostalgic and sepia-toned, the chiming delayed guitars quietly subverting the blasts or organ in the back of the mix and the sudden, unexpected fade-out all bring the track back in line with what we might expect of the Atlas Sound moniker. Bradford Cox may have spoken of Logos being an attempt to produce a more extroverted record, and certainly ‘Walkabout’ does see his music step gloriously into the sunlight – just don’t expect there not to be at least some residual fear there.