30. Feels – Animal Collective (2005)

As gloriously justified as any long-time fan of Animal Collective must feel given Merriweather Post Pavilion’s recent indie-domination, I also feel that sliver of remorse which arises when you realize things will never quite be the same. Before that record’s svelte and juicy electronic-tinged pop songs, Animal Collective was a band to admire but also fear. They’re so prolific and so versatile, you never knew if their next record would be a scream-fest mess like their earliest releases (and most of their live shows, for that matter) or a bonafide classic. So when you’d play a new AC LP for the first time, you never took anything for granted; the lovely, echo-drenched mantras of ‘Loch Raven’, the blistering squawks that boldly intercept ‘Grass’, or the steady build of freak-folk momentum that crests through ‘Did You See the Words?’. Feels was polished to be so tantalizingly raw, written to be suffocated in muddy electric guitars, and destined to capture Animal Collective at the prime; of their Fat Cat discography? Sure, but in the prime of their DIY incorruptibility too.

Cover Art Highs and Lows: Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective

HIGH

Merriweather Post Pavilion
Animal Collective
Domino Records.

Finally, a magic-eye poster I get! As if Animal Collective weren’t already tied so tightly to drug-use, the cover of Merriweather Post Pavilion gives parents one more reason to take the unassuming statement “My favourite band is Animal Collective” to mean “My friends and I spend weekends in the forest on acid, and I don’t bring a jacket”. With strangely patterned leaves merging to form a rolling, hallucinatory quilt of awesomeness, Merriweather…’s artwork could be making the apt statement that this record doesn’t require psychotropic drugs to make you feel giddy, braindead and force you to nearly wet yourself. At the very least, it’s an iconic image destined for retro t-shirts thirty years from now, when Merriweather Post Pavilion is a cult classic and everyone wonders why major radio never played it.

Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Animal Collective
Domino Records.

SCQ Rating: 91%

When discussing the discography of Animal Collective, I must admit that I’ve always held the Brooklyn band’s material at an arm’s distance. Despite being drawn to their breakout Sung Tongs for its more sensational details (those same hoots, hollers and bird squawks that came to represent “freak-folk”), I couldn’t treat their output as delicately or lovingly as other bands whose music truly spoke through me. When the majority of your favourite albums shed light on relationships and mortality, Animal Collective’s refusal to address common (or, for that matter, penetrable) subject matter may've bolstered their ranks among stoner circles but pigeonholed my records for strict weekend chill-outs. Feels challenged that disconnect, as did last spring’s Water Curses EP, yet none so stunningly as Merriweather Post Pavilion.

The greatest and most futile question at hand is its immediacy: what strikes first? Is it Avey, Panda and Geologist’s embrace of mainstream styles? Or their vocals, now front and center in the mix? How about Merriweather...’s unusually pristine production? Or the band’s undeniable growth as songwriters? Truth is, the countless examples of Merriweather Post Pavilion’s immediacy within the first two tracks are potent enough to seriously damage your brain, be it the eerie/explosive awakening of ‘In the Flowers’ or some two-step inspired electro-pop on ‘My Girls’. Whichever aspect to Animal Collective’s progression represents your particular first-listen epiphany isn’t really important; they’re each crucial to this record’s importance. In short, Merriweather… is easily the Brooklyn band’s most comprehensible album – the vocals are up-front, insightful lyrics, stellar production and the songs are indestructible – but none of these breakthroughs come at the expense of Animal Collective’s identity. Their oddity remains as potent as ever, and Merriweather Post Pavilion, despite its universal bravado, is likely their greatest mindfuck yet. Not because it’s unnerving… no, not anymore… but now because it’s awe-inspiring.

Genre-labels have never been of use when describing Animal Collective’s discography, partly because yes, they’re pioneers of their craft, but also because they’ve never stood by a particular sound for longer than one full-length. Critics are reduced to amateurish descriptors that the band must relish in; Sung Tongs was accessible in its “acoustic” approach, Feels was its “electric” counterpart, and Strawberry Jam incorporated “electronic” loops and textures. Pretty detailed stuff. Merriweather Post Pavilion’s sound takes liberally from past efforts – notably the raw energy of Feels matched to Strawberry Jam’s sonic experimentation – but filters the band’s use of intensity and adventurism into the most gloriously polished, lushly arranged album of their career. And because each AC album sports its own inarticulate sound, as difficult to pinpoint as a dream’s narrative, I’ll now join other critics with my take: Merriweather… is built on prog-rock songs tempered to the elements and rhythms of dance music. Each composition unfurls its verses like backhanded secrets before honing in on maximized choruses.

This immediacy in all categories combines to form an album so powerful it’s nearly negating. At eleven songs, fifty-four minutes and not a wasted moment, I almost wish Merriweather… was trimmed (by even one song) to alleviate the strain on my senses. Yet how can I complain when the results are this thrilling? Where the band used to throw five song ideas into a rapid-fire collage (think ‘Who Could Win a Rabbit’, ‘Grass’, ‘Water Curses’), Merriweather… finds Animal Collective exploring songwriting paths only coarsely mapped on previous outings. ‘Also Frightened’ could’ve been a stuttering bridge to an AC song of old, but here it’s established, layered upon and fully realized. Where ‘Summertime Clothes’ takes a dirty garage riff (like a distant cousin to Hot Chip’s ‘Over and Over’) and develops their most retro-sounding pop song to date, ‘No More Runnin’ is the band’s most structured slow song to date, all nostalgic keys and evening-still bass.

My copy of Merriweather Post Pavilion was first unwrapped in Montreal, where a friend and I had planned to meet and partake in first-listen ceremonies. As the disc spun, my friend lamented over how unexpectedly perfect it would’ve been had someone taken a picture of us, sitting attentively on the couch, when the first percussive tantrums of ‘In the Flowers’ pounded loose of his speakers. A photograph of that moment would’ve caught us inches over the couch-cushions, eyes wide and minds blown. Now the year is young, and I refuse to close any discussion of as-yet-unreleased albums that might challenge Merriweather…’s 2009-supremacy bid, yet I marvel at how this album extinguished my hesitant disconnect between AC tunes and my life. To paraphrase and modify one of its finest lyrics: is this album really all the things that are outside of me? I’m beginning to believe it is.

Water Curses EP - Animal Collective

Water Curses

Animal Collective
Domino Records.

SCQ Rating: 84%

Strawberry Jam wasn’t hard to approach so much as it was hard to buy. 'Peacebone' was a great lead single and my initial reaction to a few other tracks was overwhelmingly positive but, somehow, I felt like my love for Animal Collective was waning. Hindsight doesn’t help me uncoil why I felt that way but their new material, as brazen and innovative as it was, felt emotionally barren. It’s a mystery I might have to revisit after purchasing Water Curses, an EP that is almost entirely comprised of outtakes from the Strawberry Jam sessions but sounds indebted to the grassy-knolls and wooded vistas of 2005’s gorgeous Feels.

Title track ‘Water Curses’ is the livewire here, a frantic throw-together of several song ideas that only Animal Collective are able to make sense of. An unforgiving assault of musicianship that somehow keeps pace of its complicated pieces, ‘Water Curses’ is closest in energy to ‘Grass’ but sonically latched to the electronic repetitions found on their 2007 LP. Through its final flutters and waves, we’re submerged into Animal Collective’s other forte: tripped out stragglers that wrap you in their psychedelic blend of ambience and effects. And although the EP never resurfaces from this twinkling aquatica, many of its greatest moments are buried and waiting to be found. If the flamboyant opener is considered the most exciting song, ‘Street Flash’ is undoubtedly the EP’s most important; an impressive mood-piece that is comforting but never resting long, assuming gradual transformations that betray its continuous key melody. Its beauty finally proves itself insurmountable as Avey Tare’s platinum screams over a bed of noise only increase our sense of solace.

The final two songs reach further into the abyss, acquiring stripped-down arrangements and skirting any immediate reactions. ‘Cobwebs’ is a bleeping atmosphere that feeds off some expert vocal-harmonizing but never seems at peace with its surroundings. That said, it’s still incredibly linear compared to ‘Seal Eyeing’ – the sole track that was recorded particularly for this release – which aside from a distorted voice and lovely piano line, is completely weighed down by the overflow we’ve watched accumulate over the first three songs. That ‘Seal Eyeing’ sacrifices some of its potential substance to embody this shining luster is hardly selfish; in fact, this final track concludes a flood that had been building since ‘Water Curses’ took a dive. This nautical theme also binds the EP’s four tracks in a way that makes their ‘outtake’ status seem insulting. Water Curses is another exciting chapter in Animal Collective’s inexhaustible discography that stands on its own between their celebrated Strawberry Jam and whatever mystic muses lie ahead.