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• Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion caters to a mainstream crowd

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If you are not a fan of the band Animal Collective or have never even heard of them, their newest full-length is a more mainstream version of their eccentric sound that acts as the perfect place for a fan to begin the mystical listening journey.

Merriweather Post Pavilion is already being hailed as a contender for future album of the year lists by blogs and music critics alike, despite the fact that it is only January. The band is known for their expansive use of unusual noises to create a type of music that is unlike any other. This album in particular is unique in that it stays true to the distinctive use of whining vocals and idiosyncratic melodies, but also tends to follow similar structural guidelines of other mainstream pop music. In this, Merriweather Post Pavilion follows Animal Collective’s recognizable psychedelic vibe that asks the listener to join in on the communal yelping and excitement with all members of the band. Such vocalized harmonies are reminiscent of any Beach Boys track as it were mixed with a backdrop of ambient noise.

Animal Collective’s last full-length, 2007’s Strawberry Jam, was regarded as one of the best albums of the year by much of the print and online indie rock community, adding an element of hype to the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion.

While Strawberry Jam was geared towards an audience that knew what to expect from the band, Merriweather Post Pavilion is more accessible to the new listener. The songs compliment each other as they mix from one set of out-of-this-world melodies to the next. The songs most likely to become the most popular on the album will be the bombastic “My Girls,” and the dance-worthy “Brother Sport.”

In the end, however, Merriweather Post Pavilion is still an Animal Collective album, and with all of their work, it is not for everyone. It is experimental music that is precisely created to not so much tell a story, as to evoke an emotion from the experience of hearing it.