The Collective Works
Another new segment! I'll give you a hint what it's about, there's a hint in the title.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Yes, the cover is an optical illusion. And also, yes, I will be going over the work of Animal Collective. Besides one single song, I have never heard ANY Animal Collective. And I figure it's probably time I check out this hip new band. I'm not going to give a comprehensive history (because I'm just now hearing this band for the first time), and I'm not going to go in chronological order, instead basing my next choice on a flowchart on the 4chan /mu wiki.
Anyways, let's dive right in. "In The Flowers" starts off the album. It starts off quiet and subdued, sort of indie folk-like. But a pounding drum soon comes in the background, and a lot of psychedelic synth and piano lines enter the fold as well. Vocals are pretty generic indie fare, so nothing uber spectacular there. But boy, is this music crazy. And the music video is downright scary. Looks like a snuff film.
The next song, "My Girls" has a similarly screwed up music video, but is also similarly good, and in similar ways, with Psychedelic Pop vibes shining through the myriad rhythms. "Also Frightened" pretty much continues in the same strange trend. "Summertime Clothes" also contains similar elements to the other two, but is perhaps a bit more bass-y. "Daily Routine" starts out by introducing a synth bit which appears in bits throughout the song. Perhaps there's a slightly more synth-pop feel to that one as well. And the looping vocals remind me of some Gentle Giant. Then it becomes more dreamy like the other songs by the end. Really good one, that.
Next is "Bluish", another really good Pop/Dance track, with a hint of Beach Boys in the vocal arrangement. And straight after that, another obviously Beach Boys influenced song, with multiple vocal lines laying the groundwork for a rhythmic track featuring a ton of piano, moreso than any other track before, I think. I haven't mentioned it before, but each track seamlessly transitions into the next. The next track, "Taste", sort of feels like a bit of chiptune, purely based on the synth sounds. But it also has some vocals weaving in and out, as well as the light drums that appear on the rest of the songs.
"Lion in a Coma" marks the point at which I'm beginning to express doubt about this album. I sort of feel like this album is the band attempting to streamline their sound, but at the expense of some of their honesty. Nevertheless, "No More Runnin" comes up, and it's more strange underwater sounds and rainy stuff. I'm really not hearing many of the lyrics here. Yeah, this song isn't doing it for me. It's just boring, honestly. It's probably the repetitiveness, as it's a problem that also plagues "Brother Sport", the next song. It's too repetitive, and the songwriting isn't good enough to warrant it.
I think the problem I have with this album is that it's too damn proud of itself to have any depth. It's like a potato during the Irish famine. Looks good on the outside, but as soon as you dig a little deeper, it's pretty much rotten to the core. I'm not saying it's all bad, there are a few great ideas on here, but I just think the execution falls flat. The synths are downright annoying, and while the melodies are usually on-par, the vocals can also be pretty annoying. You definitely have some brilliant people behind this, but when it comes to putting everything together, they don't seem to be the best. Might be the producer's fault, honestly.
So, as far as we've gotten so far, I really don't understand the hype surrounding Animal Collective, they're just sort of mediocre as far as I've gotten. There are a couple really good songs, but a lot of lifeless ditherings. Hopefully they've something more to offer on our next adventure.
OVERALL RATING: 6/10