After several listens in the car and one run-through with a buddy trying to figure out what the samples were, it was time to test drive Feed the Animals on an un-expecting group of house partiers. In a controlled environment, actually listening to Feed the Animals, it has proven itself a respectable follow-up effort. Similar testing last year with Night Ripper showed general enthusiastic approval and scattered-to-full-blown dancing.

The scene: a small house party in the Sand Point neighborhood. The evening’s drink special is Kool-Aid and Everclear. It tastes just fine. Several people are involved in engaging matches of foosball; mostly there are conversations in the kitchen and casual drinking. Around 1:00am the stereo goes silent and Girl Talk is introduced to the environment. There is another gentleman looking to choose the music selection as well, he waits. At first the partygoers do not acknowledge the music, then speculative looks begin appear on a few faces. The album is lightly discussed as it plays - interested parties are given a bit of back story about what they are hearing. Occasionally heads bob with an up-tempo sample, but the momentum built rarely lasts more than a few seconds, then the heads stop bobbing. Only one person is genuinely interested in the record, a timid Irishman who sits next to the speakers so he can give the album his full attention. Occasional sections are hits – Jay Z and Radiohead, Metallica and Lil Mama. The guy who wanted to put something else on keeps walking over to the iPod and checking how much time is left. About 30 minutes in he turns the record off and puts on KMFDM. The guys playing foosball applaud his selection. It is unclear how much, if any, of the applause is because he put something else on.