About Croz Boyce:
What if 40 minutes of instrumental music made by two friends passing files across state
lines could capture the range of human experience, or at least a disproportionate chunk
of it—worry and camaraderie, hope and frustration, tenderness and absurdity? That is
the question that steadily emerges across the nine tracks of the self-titled debut from
Croz Boyce, the duo of two musicians who have made some of the last quarter-
century’s most inquisitive music, Dave Portner (Avey Tare) and Brian Weitz
(Geologist) of Animal Collective. Buds and collaborators for so long that it seems
they can have deep exchanges without a word or, in this case, a shared physical space,
Portner and Weitz cry and hug and crack up (good) and crack up (bad) as a pair here. A
record of sweet or fretful acoustic strums and electronics that give every scene color and
depth, Croz Boyce feels like a celebration of friendship, of the chance to share a lifetime
together even if from a distance.
Here is some requisite biographical information for the first or third paragraph of your
record review, depending on the kind of outline you prefer: Five years ago, Animal
Collective released a track called “Brown Thrasher,” part of a massive charitable
compendium called For the Birds. It was a curious little drift, single acoustic notes
acting like opened windows for rays of electronic sunshine. To divulge a little liner notes
data, that was just Portner and Weitz, working through their mutual adoration for a
springtime idyll. The two liked the partnership, and, as the rest of their main quartet
was busy with other projects, decided to keep going. Starting in early 2023, and almost
without exception, Portner would write a guitar theme in his Blue Ridge redoubt and
send it to Weitz in the heart of D.C. He’d react to each instrumental and send it back.
Aside from a shared mixing session in rural North Carolina and another in Baltimore
with Animal Collective’s Josh Dibb, that’s how easily Croz Boyce came together—two
longtime pals, passing the time by making music together.
