Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective
I’ve spent a couple weeks with Merriweather Post Pavilion now and I have no qualms saying that it’s the first great album of 2009. Granted, we’re still just in the first month here, but it’s the kind of release that makes a strong initial statement and yet will still be talked about at the end of the year when people are putting together their requisite lists.
Working their recorded material out years in advance (I caught them in concert just under two years ago and I specifically remember them playing several songs that now appear on here), there now truly seems to be a definitive arc or development in terms of the Animal Collective sound. A general guideline seems to be that they’re focusing more on melody than on rhythm now, but one doesn’t really come at the expense of the other. At the same time, they’re cutting back more and more on the yells and hoots and hollers while generally moving in a more pop-oriented direction.
Although they’ve certainly had their accessible moments over the years, Strawberry Jam felt like the first time the group had created nearly a full album with those sorts of ideas in mind, and Merriweather Post Pavilion is a continuation of that essence with a good dose of the heady and brilliant Person Pitch thrown in for good measure.
Although the album itself runs a healthy 54 minutes, the longest of the 11 songs is 6 minutes and the shortest is just under 4. It’s a remarkably uniform effort, with a minimum of unfocused tangents and an insane amount of “get stuck in your head” moments. “My Girls” builds with a graceful curve upwards as repetitive electronic layers glimmer with multi-part vocals into a punchy closing section that shifts with some delicious chord changes and cathartic yelps.
“My Girls” – Animal Collective
There are tons and tons of great moments, including the near verse-chorus construction of “Summertime Clothes,” the hushed sing-along of “Bluish,” and the rave techno urgency of the closer “Brothersport,” but for sheer hooks it’s hard to beat a song like “Taste,” which lurches along with some ultra-thick beats and oodles of shimmering electronics and layered vocals. It’s one of several songs on the album that make you think that the group could easily kick out a straight-up radio-friendly album if they wanted.
“Taste” – Animal Collective
If I had to put it all some sort of metaphor, their discography lines up pretty neatly with the theory of evolution. Here Comes The Indian (and before) is the group banging around in the primordial muck, locking into things that would find even better use later on. On Sung Tongs, they’ve moved up to at least the level of savage, while discovering real instrumentation and melodies while still generally making a racket. Feels finds them turning into slightly more civilized types, even going so far as communicating in full sentences, while Strawberry Jam tries to act as a culmination of past ideas with slightly updated technology. Better living through circuitry!
Merriweather Post Pavilion then, is the group blasting off into space. It’s the most expansive and full sounding release they’ve done to date and is both immediately satisfying and well-written enough to have staying power. The group has even developed lyrically, with words that capture everything from the frailty and small moments of life and family to ones that are a bit more opaque but still certainly never quite fall back to past banalities. When a release so roundly praised like this comes out, there’s a tendency to back away or an urge to backlash, but this one is worth the hype. Like I said, this one will still be around at the end of the year.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Don’t you mean, “first great album of 2009″?
January 20th, 2009 at 7:03 am
I always have at least a couple major “duh” moments at the beginning of each new year where I’m still behind a year. It usually involves me writing the wrong number on a check or a form, but this time out I botched my review. Thanks for catching it.
January 21st, 2009 at 8:27 am
Glad you like this one. The end of your review of Strawberry Jam, where you suggest that based on their live performances they might already have been on the cusp of something new, now seems rather prophetic! As much I loved SJ, I did find the producion rather overloaded and there was no song that could take completely to heart, or that didn’t fall short in some minor way.
It doesn’t seem more than a few months since that release to be honest but after the inevitable deflation of expectations that I felt upon first hearing MPP I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. Every second is just wonderful! (though Lion in a Coma is definitely my least favourite). Interesting to read the interview with them on Pfork, where they discuss their arguments about what track should be album closer. To me Brothersport is the right choice, and is incredibly moving (as well as insanely catchy) once you understand the lyrics. ‘Open up your throat’ is a perfect mantra for the new year!
I already prefer this to anything on my list for 2008, and doubt that anyone can release anything to top this for the rest of the year. I notice The Field is releasing a new LP in May, who knows what that will bring? But really I think only Panda Bear himself or, perhaps, something entirely, dazzlingly new, can beat this!
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:00 am
“The end of your review of Strawberry Jam, where you suggest that based on their live performances they might already have been on the cusp of something new, now seems rather prophetic!”
Indeed! I too remember seeing a live show of theirs (before Strawberry Jam came out) and fell absolutely in love with the sounds that would come to be “My Girls”. I was actually kind of upset that it wasn’t on Strawberry Jam when it was released, but I’m happy that they put that song, and some others that they were playing on at the time, on this release. Anyway, I haven’t picked this up yet, but it seems like “believe the hype” might be true in this case…and quite glad to see a review I must say
And, if I may say, I had missed both Lau Nau’s “Nukkuu” LP and Shugo Tokumaru’s “Exit” until just recently (both were released in 08) and am really sorry I took so long to hear them. Both quite opposite ends of the spectrum, but both releases people should consider picking up (especially Lau Nau if you’re into everything that Fonal’s been doing…).
January 24th, 2009 at 4:47 am
WowwW! What an album! Animal Collective keeps getting better!!!!
Just out of habit/curiousity Aaron… but what would you rate this album? Maybe you’re past the point of rating, but still I’d like to know
I love the new site btw!
kind regards Elwin
January 24th, 2009 at 4:55 am
This is truly a great start of the 2009 music year! Great review too.
Not sure where on this site to give recommendations, but holy smokes please check this out:
http://www.dotshop.se/ds/release.php?code=RCD2072&rand=943296495
http://www.runegrammofon.com/artists/various/rcd-2072—various_-money-will-ruin-everything-2/
December 20th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
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