When an album is dubbed “one of the finest American records of our generation” by an influential and widely read music monthly two months before its release it carries with it a weight of expectation as heavy as a crate of orca whales. Animal Collective’s journey to mainstream crossover has been a long, winding one, and the wheels could easily have fallen off at any point. The indicators all pointed towards commercial success with the triumph of last album Strawberry Jam that, despite lacking length and the playful diversity of its predecessors, became one of 2007’s biggest indie hits, alongside the experimental magnum opus Person Pitch from AC member Panda Bear. Being schooled in at least remedial maths, the Collective put two and two together to come up with Merriweather Post Pavilion’s equation: Strawberry Jam + Person Pitch = The most vital album of 2009.
“Most vital” is a more fitting crown for MPP than “Most accomplished”, because in truth the perfect album still eludes Animal Collective. Each collection to date has been a car boot sale of magnificent ideas that could have done with a little more polish. Post Pavilion is a step up from all their previous efforts in that it revisits older ideas for the first time (watery electronics, lopsided vocal interplay, acoustics-as-electronics, techno-influenced beats, and, well, choruses) and tweaks them to the perfection they weren’t previously allowed. It is also separated from earlier AC albums and, indeed, at least 98% of anything else released this year, by containing four purely timeless pop songs: the Panda Bear-led Caribbean-kissed My Girls, the shamelessly romantic Summertime Clothes (which almost nullifies the existence of previous heart-warming hit Grass), the synesthetic and satisfyingly snoozy Bluish, and the closest to conventionality they’ve ever tread waters with, Brothersport.
Perhaps as a bulwark against a diehard backlash, or more probably for their own amusement, they remain true to the more slippery, less than poppy AC template throughout the rest of the album, refusing to anchor songs around hooks, but building on a foundation of more spectral electronics and straightforward drum pulses. It is an album of contrast and cohesion, the reconciliation of disparate moods, genres, colours and ideas into one gelatinous whole. As with all the best experiments there are a few unnecessary explosions and some residue that could have done with being mopped up, but with Merriweather as the end product a little mess is more than acceptable.
See also: Grizzly Bear- Yellow House [Warp], Panda Bear- Person Pitch [Paw Tracks], Steve Reich- Music For 18 Musicians [ECM]
