Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

When John Cockroft split the atom in 1932 I doubt he realised what he had actually done in the grand scheme of things.

It may have helped win World War 2 but what about in a thousand years time? What potential does a split atom have when you split it again? Not only did he change the present but ultimately the future and everything after as well.

The same can be said for Animal Collective. They seem to have made something they don't fully understand but they know that there's something... something special about it. Maybe not now, maybe not in a year but somewhere, at sometime, this is going to change the world.

Merriweather Post Pavilion is one of those albums that, upon first listen you question, upon second listen you understand and upon third listen you're completely taken. It transcends genre with a shrug and goes where it wants when it wants, all the time remaining inoffensive.

If there's one thing about music that drastically increases its potential, it's the ability to create an atmosphere that the listener can immerse themselves into and the Collective pull this off with aplomb. They manage to craft a unique sound with every song but never stray too far from the overall sonic topography of the LP. Taste couldn't sound any more different than its immediate successor Lion In A Coma but somehow, they remain in the same musical landscape. This alone is a feat that many attempt but most fail, so seeing it done so well here is both satisfying and endearing.

Everything emanates colour and energy, twisting through a psychedelic journey whilst always keeping one foot in the calm, never letting itself get the better of itself. Each track sounds more organic than the next, bursting from the Earth and swirling to life from deep bassy tones and growing exponentially with time, like a plant in the first few days of its existence.

Other tracks form louder, quicker incarnations such as closing track Brothersport. Playing with harsh electric snares carried on bombast beats all whilst holding low-fi distortion as the backdrop, it's a jovial jaunt and an example of the hyperactivity the band also possess.

Sitting at a respectable 55 minutes long, Merriweather neither grows tiresome nor repetitive. It's long enough to never outstay its welcome and is worth a repeat directly after, just to grab one more hour in the audible world they artistically paint.

It may be too far left to hit any commercial heights and its sound may be too far ahead of its time to be truly respected but trust us when we say that it's an album that with time becomes timeless itself.