Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion

Review By Chris Drabick

There are a few different schools of thought on the career trajectory of Animal Collective. First are those fans that consider the band’s early peak to be its most interesting; these are folks that dig the messy noise the band was making before it even settled on the name Animal Collective. Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished (2000) is the most indicative of this period, as it was initially credited to Avey Tare and Panda Bear rather than the collective as a whole.

Then there are those that feel the group hit its stride with Here Comes the Indian, which represents the intersection between its less focused early approach and its more stripped-down later records. Lastly, we have those that feel the band was more or less messing around and finding its way early on, and that 2004’s Sung Tongs represents the real birth of the band. These fans see the records since as building toward the inevitable perfect moment; Panda Bear’s solo acclaim for Person Pitch and the early buzz for Merriweather Post Pavilion are the best evidence of the intensifying critical and popular momentum.

Let’s presuppose for the duration of this discussion that you find yourself in the third camp where Animal Collective is concerned. Your question would then be whether Merriweather Post Pavilion is all it’s cracked up to be and the fulfillment of this band’s unique approach. The answer is yes and no. Everything that made Feels or Strawberry Jam successful and listenable is here on Merriweather. A.C. pulls together some truly great melodies for “In the Flowers” and the exhausting and exhaustive “Lion in a Coma.”

The almost apologetic refrain of “My Girls” (“I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things, I just want four walls…for my girls”) represents some of the group’s most mature work. “No More Runnin’” also has a grown-up tone in its calm approach.