While Half the Animal have only been around for just more than a year, the poppy foursome have made quite a splash with their catchy brand of alternative rock. Plenty of groups spend their first couple of years trying to work their way out of the garage, but Half the Animal were born out of a shift in the musical stylings of Open Air Stereo, a band you might remember from MTV’s venture into OC-based programming, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.