It annoys the hell out of me when a band writes their name in such a way that it remains the same in print. I recall when Glassjaw had legions of dorks writing “glassJAw” all over the internet, and it annoyed me just as much then as it does now. That said, if you were one of the people who were writing Korn as “KoRn” with a backwards R in 1998, you should probably still be punishing yourself.

Now that I’ve revealed my opinion of such typographical tomfoolery, the headline of this article is the only time you're going to catch me writing “Health” in all caps, because I find it ridiculous to do so. I also find that this flaw is Health's only one, especially on their newest record, Get Color.

I'd like to take this opportunity to smear Animal Collective one more time; Get Color is what AC wishes Merriweather Post Pavillion sounds like. Health is what Animal Collective could have been if they had spent more time writing music for themselves rather than the emaciated American Apparel model set. Given a selection of fine oil paints, AC snatched up the shades, and Health grabbed the colors. That may be one of the corniest analogies I've written, but it’s strangely accurate. MPP's sonic palette is dismal compared to that of Get Color's. Hell, the song “Death+” is better than everything AC has done, combined. Now that I've driven that point into the ground, allow me to talk more about what makes Get Color so goddamned awesome.

Using an Amway-esque pyramid as a model, they constructed a contest that involves varying levels of prizes to be redeemed by mailing in various color-coded tickets found in Get Color LPs. The grand prize is the obligatory “hang out with the band, etc” BS, but the band promises they will take you to Magic Mountain, which could be pretty awesome, but the real prizes are found farther down in the pyramid, somewhere around the “running out of ideas” area.

One of the prizes finds the winner engaging in a drunken arts and crafts session with the band via video chat. Another promises an LP to the ticket holder, signed by all the members of the band in blood. The “magenta” and “fuchsia” colored tickets hold the weirdest stuff, a paper shuriken containing a packet of 40x salvia or an “astrological consultation” with a band member's mother.

Due to the awesomeness of content and the chance to get at the aforementioned potential content (66 tickets in total), the incentive to buy this record versus downloading it is compelling. I'd have to say I recommend it; Get Color is easily in my top ten of 2009, and it will be in yours too—so long as you don't like shitty tunes.