The experimental noise rock collective the Sound of Animals Fighting restricts its public appearances to inexpensive, unsettling yet endearing children's Halloween masks adorned with cartoon animals, a measure prompted by both a desire for mystique and legal constraints tied to the recording contracts held by various participants. More of an ever-changing musical collective modeled after Broken Social Scene than a fixed band, its members are identified exclusively by the animals portrayed on their masks. As a result, the debut album The Tiger and the Duke credits the Walrus, the Lynx, the Bear, the Nightingale, the Ferret, the Armadillo, the Hyena, the Octopus, the Skunk, the Llama, the Swan, the Dog, the Raven, the Tortoise, and the Tiger as its contributors, establishing an effective promotional device.
Widespread online dissemination has nevertheless dismantled the intended secrecy. Rich Balling, the former RX Bandits member performing as the Nightingale, is accepted as the project's central figure and producer. The 2005 album The Tiger and the Duke was captured through an unorthodox procedure shaped by John Cage's indeterminacy principles and Frank Zappa's late-period practice of combining live recordings from separate times and locations into unified pieces. Musicians were brought into the studio one at a time under Balling's oversight to improvise for predetermined durations without hearing any earlier tracks, after which Balling assembled the final mix. Additional performers comprised ex-RX Bandits members Matthew Embree (the Walrus) on guitar and Chris Tsagakis (the Lynx) on drums, Finch guitarist Randy Strohmeyer (the Tiger), bassist Derek Doherty (the Tortoise), vocalists Matthew Kelly (the Llama) of the Autumns, Rich Zahniser (the Armadillo) of the Hippos, and Anthony Green (the Skunk) of Circa Survive, plus keyboardist and programmer Chris Fudurich (the Bear). The remaining six listed participants managed recording logistics, artwork, and publicity.
The collective's stronger second release, 2006's Lover, The Lord Has Left Us on Equal Vision, blends free improvisation with more organized components, among them Karlheinz Stockhausen-inspired musique concrète, female Sanskrit singing, and passages of Italian opera. Its reduced lineup unites Balling, Embree, Tsagakis, Green, Kelly, Days Away singer Keith Goodwin (the Penguin), and Chiodos vocalist Craig Owens (the Ram). Group members gathered for four concerts at the House of Blues in San Diego, Hollywood, Anaheim, and Las Vegas during late August that year, events promoted as the band's only live performances.
