Ecstatic Schizophrenic

Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective
Domino, 2009
4.5 stars

Watching Animal Collective’s progression over the last few years has been like watching a difficult, misunderstood schoolkid grow into a well-adjusted, creative young adult. Where their early stuff often involved making beautiful organic experimental songs out of rough, animalistic sounds, Merriweather is a polished gem of danceable, summery psychadelic pop. More accessible, and less sickly sweet than last year’s Strawberry Jam, Merriweather borrows the layered Brian Wilson-esque vocal harmonies of Panda Bear’s wonderful Person Pitch LP, melding them with some great ‘90s synthetic beats and samples to create something different again. My Girls and Bluish are two amazing tracks amongst an album full of them – both so dense and unabashedly joyous you can’t help getting carried away by the vibe. And album closer Brother Sport is the perfect ecstatic, schizophrenic closer. Merriweather is an Animal Collective album (possibly the first) without any of the tough bits, and the perfect summer soundtrack.

Artwork: A
As a mate said, the artwork matches the album perfectly - trippy as hell. My shitty hand-drawn rendition doesn't have the same effect, but it's worth checking out the original - here.

Published in mX, Thursday January 15, 2009.