Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Domino
Action Rating: 8/10
Animal Collective are not what you would call “radio friendly”. Considered “freak folk,” yet it is impossible to pin a genre on Animal Collective as they change from album to album.
Animal Collective consists of four members but they come and go as they please. Only three members ,Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), and Geologist (Brian Weitz) contribute to this album. The band members do go by their nicknames, which is strange, but strange is not saying enough.
On their ninth full-length release, Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective take the weirdness down a notch, but remain psychedelic to say the least. The album is very electronic, as in they use samples and it is beat driven, in a way it is like Radiohead’s Kid A.
The opening song “In the Flowers” starts with an electronic sample and a guitar line which sounds similar to Pink Floyd but it quickly drifts away. It is “out there”. With the delivery of the line “If I could just leave my body for the night” the song explodes with epic proportion until it winds down near the end.
“My Girls,” is brilliant, and by far the standout song. The way they’ve layered all the several digital sounds just absorb you. Not only is the music entrancing, but the lyrics carry a very interesting message as well. “I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status/I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls” They put emphasis on that line and repeat it several times, interpret that as you wish.
“Summertime Clothes” is the catchiest song on the album, it is very beat driven, and has an eighties vibe to it. “Summertime Clothes” is an excellent song and another of the albums highlights.
“Bluish” could be considered the album’s dividing point. It is a slower but it is dream-like song. As Avey Tare sings, "I'm getting lost in your curls”, you get lost in the song. The closing song “Brother Sport” is another fantastic song. Drawing influences from several genres including African music, keeping with the album’s upbeat feel it was clearly the best choice to end the album upon.
Each song on the album flows together beautifully. The album as a whole is great and it clocks in around an hour. The only downside is that some songs blend together, yet there are no weak songs or fillers. Merriweather Post Pavillion is a great introduction to the band. If I were to compare this album to other artists, I would call it a mix of The Beach Boys, which are obvious in the harmonies, The Shins, and Of Montreal. Generally speaking, popular music today could use more artists like Animal Collective. We need more artists to experiment and take chances, it is very refreshing. Avant-garde artists like Animal Collective push the envelope with new sounds. With Merriweather Post Pavillion they decided to be a little less strange and it made for a better record all around.
Standout Tracks: In the Flowers, My Girls, Summertime Clothes, Daily Routine, Bluish
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