With a few days left to go on this first week of 2012 vacation, I went down to Brooklyn Tuesday night to see the great Montreal band Plants and Animals.

Touring in support of an excellent new record “The End of That,“ Plants and Animals hit the stage at Littlefield at 10:30 PM on the dot.  The band left sweaty from a vigorous physical effort a full 90 minutes later.  The crowd numbered no more than 50.

The Pitchfork reviewer Ian Cohen trashed End of That in a four paragraph rip job posted six weeks ago to coincide with the release.  Cohen mocked the record’s song lyrics which he deemed “cringeworthy.” He equated the record to a “Matthew McConaughy character come to life.”

While I don’t think End of That is as strong as P & A’s previous record La La Land, I strongly disagree with Cohen’s evaluation that the words are somehow unsophisticated or unlikely statements on life episodes.

The set presented Tuesday night covered the new record including a crisp and rousing version of the song “Lightshow.”  The highlight came when frontman Warren Spicer stepped behind an electric piano and led the band into “Game Shows,” my favorite all-time song from these guys.  A Nic Basque jam at the end of Game Shows blends with Spicer piano pops to sound like old Beatles.

Littlefield was a nice space to see a show.  The sound was good and it’s easily accessible to the R train stop at Union.  The bathrooms were nice and beers were cheap.  You just wonder if this place has staying power given the wildly competitive terrain it’s operating on.  Another relatively new and similar-sized venue called The Rock Shop is a couple blocks away.  The number of small music venues in Brooklyn alone is enough to make your head spin.  Just a few weeks ago, the great club Southpaw was forced to call it quits.

I met up with Whitey before the show at Mission Delores for a few cold ones.  This place has a great beer selection and puts out bowls of crinkle-cut pickles.  The bar welcomes both dogs and kids and there were a few of each on hand during our stay there.

We had dinner across the street from the bar at Oaxaca – Revolucion de Taco.  The unique thing here is its use of pickled onions rather than fresh, crunchy ones.

Plants and Animals is here again tonight but switches to the Manhattan venue Mercury Lounge.  I’m opting to stay home and watch game four of the Rangers/Sens playoff series.