Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Released January 6th on Domino
Animal Collective is an experimental/psychedelic, indie-rock band based out of New York, by way of Baltimore. The band starts with childhood friends, Noah Lennox and Josh Dibb, otherwise known by their music names as Panda Bear and Deakin. Deakin later started a band called Automine with two other guys who would later join AC, David Portner (Avey Tare) and Brian Weitz (Geologist). Panda Bear and Deakin would later go off to Boston for college, while Avey Tare and Geologist headed for New York City. All four members play multiple instruments in the band, with heavy focus being on electronics, samples, keys and percussion.
In just nine years, AC has written a lot of material, including eight studio albums and three EPs, as well as seven singles and two live albums. The members of the band have also taken on solo projects, as well as working with various other projects, the most noteworthy and successful of the four being the solo career of Panda Bear. As for AC, it was their 2007 album, Strawberry Jam, that began to develop a particular sound, leaving critics both impressed and speechless, to say the least. The album debuted and finished the year at #72 on the Billboard 200.
The follow-up disc that was released earlier this year, Merriweather Post Pavilion (named after the music venue in Maryland), has been even more well-received than the last, reaching #13 on the Billboard 200, #2 on the U.S. Independent Albums list and #26 on the U.K. Albums chart. The album has produced three singles thus far, “My Girls”, “Summertime Clothes” and “Brother Sport.” Have a listen below to one of those singles, and my favorite track of the album, “Lion in a Coma.”
Other Artists I’d Recommend: Panda Bear, Deerhunter, Black Moth Super Rainbow