Review: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009 just got here, and the biggest record of the year may have already arrived. Merriweather Post Pavilion is the latest outing from Baltimore wierdos Animal Collective. It's already getting rave reviews from the major outlets. The album doesn't officially come out until January 20th. The vinyl version was made available last week. Is it all hype? If you want to decide for yourself, you can stream the entire album online now.

The album opens with the lush "In the Flowers" which gives way to "My Girls". "My Girls" is a sparse electronic piece that draws you in with its vocal harmonies and pounding drum beats. It's my favorite song off the album. "Summertime Clothes" is a rollicking, bouncy summertime song as the title suggests. "Guys Eyes" is a big song in every sense of the word. The album closer is the first song to be released from the album. "Brother Sport" is an even bigger song and a great way to close the album. Are there bad songs on the album? Not really. There are songs that don't grab me like the others, but I could grow to love them just as much as the others. "Daily Routine" and "No More Runnin" just didn't grab me.

The one thing I've found to be true of all the Animal Collective albums I've heard, is that it takes more than one listen. The songs can seem simple, but on the fiftieth listen you may hear something you never heard before. Even after that, you either love them or hate them and couple more listens can change that. Is this album really as good as everyone seems to think it is? Maybe, but I probably won't know until 6 months from now when it clicks together. I could write a review then and give a completely different score.

Highs: "My Girls", "Summertime Clothes", "Guys Eyes"
Lows: "Daily Routine", "No More Runnin"

Rating: 8.0