Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavilion

(Domino)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

Mere weeks into 2009, some critics and bloggers are already hailing Merriweather Post Pavilion as the Album of the Year – tongues in cheeks to varying degrees (or not).  Since 2004, Animal Collective have been gaining traction as one of the biggest critic darlings in music; they sustained their momentum through Sung Tongs, Feels and Strawberry Jam – and despite all the hoopla now surrounding them, still managed to put out a strong EP last year (Water Curses) that went a bit under the general radar.  To their many apostles, Animal Collective are pop masters on the level of Brian Wilson, but with a playful, experimental bent that keeps them from being too palatable to the mainstream.

Merriweather Post Pavilion, though, is pretty darned palatable.  Repeat listens are always encouraged with Animal Collective, with the implication being “You’re probably not going to like this right away, but… trust me.”  Repeat listens are still encouraged and rewarded, but they aren’t quite so mandatory;  MPP is ready to be enjoyed right away.  This is good news for critics and bloggers, who mostly don’t like to finish chewing their food before delivering their restaurant review.  Everyone is in full gush mode and the album has even been threatening to make some noise on the Billboard charts.  But just when it seemed like AC fans were doomed to confront the unpleasant truth that their edgy, artsy, left-of-center band is really one of those bands that pretty much everyone in their demographic likes, Will Hermes saved the day with a 3.5-star review (Judas!) in Rolling Stone, thus preserving the illusion (for those that need it) that Animal Collective continue to be misunderstood by The Man.

Merriweather Post Pavilion isn’t flawless; it drifts at times, particularly toward its center – prone to the same sort of meandering that has caused hiccups in previous albums.  It doesn’t feel like a definitive document of our times, or even – to these ears at least – an Album of the Year.  But we’ll see.  It’s unfortunate to have to qualify it in such a fashion, but the snowballing hysteria demands it.

To make a long story shorter:  Merriweather Post Pavilion is a fine record – adventurous and enjoyable.  The overindulgences have been toned down, refined… and this means the Animal Collective of 2009 is a little less zany and convention-thwarting than the one that appeared earlier this decade.  They’re unafraid of embracing hooks, and the vocal harmonies, of course, float quickly into the listener’s subconscious, like residue from a vaguely remembered dream.  Some old fans will surely miss the occasional abrasive edge, the occasional psychedelic trip to nowhere/everywhere, those polarizing pieces that marked Animal Collective as mine, not yours.

After his acclaimed solo record Person Pitch, Panda Bear became the most celebrated member of the group, but Avey Tare is every bit his equal here.  The collision of their styles – which themselves are collisions of varied influences – produces plenty of jubilation, most especially on “Brother Sport,” “My Girls” and “Summertime Clothes.”  For fans who have grown up or come of age with Animal Collective, MPP is likely to land some especially effective (even life-affirming) emotional punches.  The songs have one foot in a transcendental fantasyland and one foot in, as one of the song titles plainly puts it, “Daily Routine.”