The Year of Post Animal
I’ve never seen a band three times in one year. Until now.
This year, psychedelic rock band Post Animal opened for their founding band member, Djo, on his international “Back on You” tour. Now, the six-piece is in the midst of their own North American tour for their latest album, Iron. Despite having made music for over a decade, this was truly the year of Post Animal.
The Chicago-based band consists of Dalton Allison (bass), Jake Hirshland (keyboard/guitar), Javier Reyes (guitar), Joe Keery (guitar), Matt Williams (guitar), and Wesley Toledo (drums), with all members contributing vocals. After starting in college at DePaul University, they made waves in the indie music scene in the mid-2010s, with Keery exiting after his acting career took off. However, Keery rejoined his close friends for their newest album, and it was truly remarkable.
Post Animal was on tour supporting their founding member, Joe Keery (far left), this year. Photo by CJ Harvey.
Iron deals with the nature of relationships, both platonic and romantic, and reflection, both internal and external. “Last Goodbye” was the first single and one the band played at every show I saw (Boston and Atlanta for Djo, then Atlanta again as a headliner). It tells the story of a relationship that has run its course, but not for a lack of trying. It’s the acknowledgement that neither party is being serviced in the current dynamic and that sometimes saying goodbye is something you see coming and need to accept.
Accepting a goodbye follows us into “Maybe You Have To,” which opens and closes with a voicemail from Toledo's grandmother. This delves into one of the hardest concepts for a person to digest, the loss of a loved one, and how sometimes what you have to do doesn’t always make sense. Death will never make true logical sense, and that is the core of this song; no matter how much you contemplate the time you could’ve spent or things you could’ve done, it would never feel like enough to satisfy the contemplation you face at the hand of something unexplainable.
Cover art for Iron.
Sticking with this idea of reflection, my personal favorite track is “Common Denominator,” which dives into the idea of self-image and the fact that the person you are is not even half of the person you could be, but that who you are is something to be proud of. The lyric, “Step outside myself, step outside my door for a common denominator,” begs the question that if the only consistency in these doubts is your own mind, isn’t that answer enough? The concept of not being able to escape yourself is daunting, but the way it’s presented in this song feels like a midnight drive. It may be dark, but there’s a certain peace and familiarity that even if you don’t know where you are, you know you’ve been somewhere like this before, and you can find a way to the next road.
Post Animal has said that Iron is based on friendship and the family you choose, which means friends are the people by your side when you lose partners, family, or even yourself. Having this tour be the reunion of a friend group is evident as ever, as these songs deal with some of the most complex issues a person can experience. There is a sense of love woven into each and every verse and chorus.
In music, romantic love often takes center stage, so to see a group of men showcasing nontoxic masculine bonds is something so refreshing, and that is certainly shown in their concerts. After having a moment to speak to each member after their show in Atlanta, I can confirm their appreciation for each other and their supporters is genuine.
They may be a decade in, but Post Animal has only just begun, and thank God for that.
