Animal Collective certainly is not a caged crew. Their brand of experimental pop music provides a foreign listening experience that actually feels unique and unlike almost anything else out there (or at the very least, anything with any semblance of success). The band’s newest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, illustrates the two seemingly contradictory aspects of the group; Animal Collective is a special band, but not an endearing one.
The music on Merriweather Post Pavilion is sensorially powerful, evoking vividly detailed scenes and even colors. It’s the type of album that’s best enjoyed with closed eyes. One can easily imagine the soundscape painting a scene of a sunny summer day on a drenched savanna; wet from recent downpours and brimming with life. The little background chips and beats (especially the more tribal sounding ones) are oddly reminiscent of the exotic sounds of the “rain forest” setting on one of those sleep sound machines. The instrumentals have such a natural quality that at times the listener can forget they’re being produced by instruments at all.
The production is stellar. For how much is going on, Merriweather Post Pavilion sounds seamless. Songs like “My Girls” effortlessly pile up layers of noise without every seeming cluttered. The stereo mixing is wonderfully subtle and intricate as it flows between right and left channels (the percussion on “Also Frightened” being the best example).
Yet despite all it’s unique qualities something’s missing. (I hate to break into 1st person here, but I feel Animal Collective justifies it.) Why don’t I care more about this music? What is it that is holding me back from adoring these songs in the way that it seems most music critics do?
The easy thing would be to point to the experimental nature of it all just not clicking. However, this is not the case. The things Animal Collective do to stretch and defy the conventions of pop music are not overwhelming by any means.
Where the disconnect lies in how the lyrics, vocals, and general sentiment intertwine. The album is too carefree, it lacks urgency or push that leads to true engagement. “Summertime Clothes” repeated refrain, “I want to walk around with you,” is about as vital as anything gets on Merriweather Post Pavilion just because it’s delivered with some actual force (though still incredibly breezily). This is issue is only exasperated on a track like “Brother Sport” which is sung in a pseudo-Rastafarian accent, which is just seems tacky coming from a group originally based in Maryland.
The track “Lion In A Coma” highlights both the good and bad of Animal Collective. The crux of the song is the refrain of, “lion in a coma,” which is sung with an uncommon vocal rhythm that is ridiculously hooky. It’s the type of thing that bores into your cerebellum and won’t leave. But the line is repeated ad nauseam, which really wares on the listener. When the song is done, all that lingers is the catchiness of the singular line without any other sense of substance. It should mean more, but it simply stays on the level of airy pop tunes.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an album you should listen to. Aspects of it are incomparable to anything else out there. At the very least it will be an album that you can appreciate.
Review Score: 6.6
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