Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion

THE REVIEW

In the end, it happened to me too, in an unexpected way. When I thought there was nothing more to be done, that between me and the much-praised Animal Collective there was no way to find a common musical understanding, an album like this comes along to shuffle everything.

Yes, because to this day "Merriweather Post Pavilion", despite its grandiose title, is the only album from the animal collective that convinces me, and most importantly, entertains me from start to finish. Compact, cohesive, at the same time cunningly pop by their standards and subtly psychedelic in the cyclical repetition of loops.

You may already have read countless words written about the album: the very marked electronic imprint (due to the absence of one of the animals, the one with the guitar it seems), its being indebted to the success of "Person Pitch" Panda Bear's solo album, its focus on an almost danceable beat. Therefore, I won't delve too much into it, also because I'm neither an aficionado nor a connoisseur of all their production.

I'm not interested in comparisons with the previous ones, or sterile debates to establish if "they were better before when only three of us listened to them", or whether they are "geniuses" or not; what matters to me is the here and now of the affair. That is, to reaffirm the possibility (which I often also deny a priori) of fully enjoying an album without caring about the previous ones, being amused and fascinated by an album that could be the first or the last, a standalone that suffices in itself. And for now, Merriweather well represents such a category.

To be reductive, the core of the album is the emphasized playful side of their music, for once easily accessible to everyone. It is precisely that childlike, joyful, and silly air that exudes from the album (which appeared here and there in previous works I've listened to, especially Sung Tongs), that led me to listen to it repeatedly for a couple of months. It is impossible not to get caught up despite oneself in the brightness of "Summertime Clothes", in the sampled sound base of Jew's harp (or is it a didgeridoo?) of "Lion In A Coma", in the choruses and mantric repetitions of "Brothersport", in the alpine crescendo of "Also Frightened".

In short, put on a pair of shorts, prepare yourself a nice cocktail, go into the garden, sit on the hammock (not forgetting to tell Brian Wilson to get out of the way) and enjoy the beautiful sunny day with this album in your headphones. Others will argue endlessly about Animal Collective.