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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 My Girls (05:41)
Is it much to admit I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little girl, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house
I don't care for fancy things
Or to take part in a precious race
And children cry for the one who has
A real big heart and a father's grace
I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status
I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls
05 Daily Routine (05:46)
Just a sec more in my bed
Hope my machine's working right
When it's just precisely tuned
That's how it comes out so nice
Make sure my kid's got a jacket
Keys and coat and shoes and hat
Strap a stroller to my back
Bouncing along every crack
What good is it to make it fast
Sing a song to pass the playground
What can I do as traffic pass
Guard my girl from muffler's black gas
What can I do to make it fast
Pop a jump but not too hard
Take a little look up at the ramp
Stop and look at the traffic signal
Up uneven steps and talking's hard
Just a sec more in my bed
Hope my machine's working right
09 Lion in a Coma (04:12)
When all this mess will ever get away, apart from Chinatown
Weaving in and out of line, the sidewalk's full of merch
and now my nervous tick has capped a lip, my cheeks are chewed down to the bit
upon the roof is stealing at the hustling crowds still reached out
i go up there and light a leaf(?) and wish our turn was next now
a (??) and some of us that's back inside a haunted house
i packed my bags and filled em with (?????????)
(????????)
This wilderness up in my head,
This wilderness up in my head,
This wilderness needs to get right out of my clothes and get into my bedroom.
is there no reason it'll be the way it was, please look at me.
my three best friends so casually just letting go so joyfully
and if i let my (???)
I'll always be happy or now is it just trying to divide?
it makes me think my dearest things
are not what they're supposed to be.
i trick myself at anytime ive got to keep up
oh my god
and hope that i will not be wrong and keep my faith inside a song
and we'll make up, which reminds me not to leave them back inside
This wilderness up in my head,
This wilderness up in my head,
This wilderness needs to get right out of my clothes and get into my bedroom.
Sometimes the sun will shine, yes i'm just feelin' fine.
Sometimes i'm not aware where I am or what i care
Sometimes i'm well-to-do but I dont know what to do
Sometimes i dont agree with my thoughts on bein' free
Please don't leave me
Seems I feel good,
I've been lucky trying to feel good.
Sometimes the sun will shine, yes i'm just feelin' fine.
Sometimes i'm not aware where I am or what i care
Sometimes i'm well-to-do but I dont know what to do
Sometimes i dont agree with my thoughts on bein' free.
Please don't leave me
Seems I feel good,
I've been lucky trying to feel good.
Lion in a coma, Lion in a coma
Who wants to smell the fine aroma,
Lion in a coma, Lion in a coma
Who wants to run again at home
a Lion in a coma, Lion in a coma
Who wants to use his aching bones
a Lion in a coma, Lion in a coma.
Don't keep lying in a coma.
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