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An Animal Collective for the Collective?

Freak-Folk Darlings Release Most Accessible, Best Work to Date

Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavillion

Released on Jan 12, 2009

Merriweather Post Pavilion was an absolute enigma before it was one of the most eagerly-anticipated albums of 2009.  It all started on October 5, 2008, when Animal Collective revamped its long-neglected Web site with text stating that something entitled Merriweather Post Pavilion would be released in January 2009.  A frightening video of a Billy Big Mouth Bass-type animatronic fish flopping to freaky sound effects only confirmed that the band was, well, fucked up.  Since the mystery release shared its name with an outdoor concert venue in Columbia, Maryland, was it fair to assume it was a live album?  Or was it a box set or a “visual record” on DVD, both of which the band has been promising for years on end?

The first hint came on October 8, 2008, when a second, equally weird video posted to the band’s Web site featured footage of a hand-written, eleven-song tracklist.  An official announcement from Domino Records soon followed and cleared up most of the remaining mystery, but important questions remained: which incarnation of Animal Collective would show up on Merriweather Post Pavilion?  The Feels-era freak folk pioneers or the spaced-out synth psychos who recorded Strawberry Jam?  Would the group revert to its raw, rambunctious roots or surprise us with something new entirely?

Listening parties in New York and England generated glowing reviews from lucky bastards who wrote of massive melodies and club-worthy bass riffs.  In mid November, the brilliant “Brothersport” was somehow featured in a French music podcast, and that meant anyone with basic audio editing software could carve out the track, save it as an mp3 and distribute it as a leaked single.  The album’s climactic closing track thus made fleeting appearances on music blogs and file-hosting Web sites before the Web Sheriff caught on and clamped down.  Even indie-rockers Grizzly Bear got in on the fun, posting the mp3 on their blog and leading the Web Sheriff to incorrectly accuse the band of having been the "global-leak-source of the track."

Speaking of leaks, the magnificent “My Girls” made the rounds on December 9th, 2008.  With two of the best songs on the album floating around on the internet, the mounting anticipation was such that one or more hackers made their way into Brian “Geologist” Weitz’s email account and sent an email to The Quietus asking would-be leakers to go ahead and do the full deed as the availability of only two of eleven songs was ruining the sanctity of the album.  Days passed, but on December 25th, the holiday wishes of the most impatient Animal Collective fans were granted as the entire album became available from the usual sources.  In an effort to do damage control, generate early sales and spread word-of-mouth, Domino moved up the vinyl release to January 6th and hosted release parties at record stores all over the country.  Chicago’s party, held January 5th at Sonotheque and attended by this writer, was a “release” party only in spirit.  While it was great to hear the album over the club’s sound system, the record was unfortunately not for sale.

For all the mystery and anxious anticipation, how does Merriweather Post Pavilion measure up?  Relatively simple and straightforward from start to finish, it features a massive mosaic of melody, shimmering synthesizers, bumping bass and click-clack percussion.  But the words “simple” and “straightforward” are not meant to take away from the greatness, even genius, that’s present on Merriweather Post Pavilion.  Even as you diligently review best-of lists for 2008, you ought to pick up the album as it will doubtlessly be featured on nearly every list this time next year. 

By far the band’s most cohesive album to date, Animal Collective has never sounded so sure of itself as it does on Merriweather Post Pavilion.  On previous albums, singers David “Avey Tare” Portner and Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox seemed to work separate from one another.  On this album, they are in such a tight lockstep that they might as well audition for The Beach Boys, a band they consistently and unabashedly pay homage to on tracks like “My Girls,” “Bluish” and “Brothersport.”     

Lyrically, the band does a better job than ever of writing relatively intelligible lyrics and tying them to the development of the song.  In the opening track “In The Flowers,” the wish that “I could just leave my body for the night” is followed by a musical onslaught that conjures images of doing just that.  Synths oscillate an ascending melody, drums simulate a racing heart and percussion clatters capture the uncontrollable, unbelievable nature of the moment.  “My Girls” and “Summertime Clothes” are expressions of incredibly simple desires and both songs use repetition to drive the point home.  In the dream-like, reverb-heavy “Daily Routine,” when Panda Bear asks for “just a sec more in my bed,” you know it’s because that’s where the song came from.  

On previous albums, Animal Collective was seemingly only committed to noise-driven psychedelia, but Merriweather Post Pavilion is steeped in warm melodies and striking beauty.  Aqueous and amphibious sound effects percolate throughout, but they never distract from or overpower the intense focus on vocal melodies, electronic textures and intricate rhythms.  Dissonance is still a factor, but neither the creepy eight-note keyboard riff in “Bluish” nor the hypnotic repetition of an Eastern-sounding instrument in “Lion In A Coma” threaten to turn off even the most pop-oriented ears.

If and when Merriweather Post Pavilion comes to be viewed as the band’s pop album, as Pitchfork predicted it would, it won’t stand out as the red-headed stepchild in relation to the experiments in freak-folk and spaced-out psychedelia that preceded it.  Merriweather Post Pavilion is Animal Collective’s most cohesive and musically dense work to date, with beautiful vocal harmonies, rich electronic textures, thumping club beats and refreshing pop hooks.  As such, it neither deserves nor demands an apology or an asterisk.  Sure, it’s a pop album, but it stands as proud and tall as any other Animal Collective album that preceded it.

Posted by Ben Wadington on Jan 12, 2009 @ 9:00 am