Croz Boyce, West End Entertainment District

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.