< Music From the Album is at left.

Over the last five or six years, Animal Collective has been an example of all that bothers me about modern experimental and “indie” music. They’ve been categorized in ridiculous genres like “freak-folk,” they’ve ruined perfectly decent pop songs with outrageous fits of screaming, and they’ve generally been worshipped the second coming of the Beach Boys, or the Beatles, or the Velvet Underground. Nothing makes hipsters moist in their skin-tight jeans faster than Animal Collective. All of this gave me pause as I was downloading an early scene leak of Animal Collective’s ninth album, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

So imagine my surprise when, after the initial watery, noisy sample, “In The Flowers” slowly turned from a droning minor key ballad into a electro-pop jam with an infectious vocal melody that’s actually sung, not screamed! Good start, I think to myself. As good as “Flowers” is, nothing could have prepared me for “My Girls,” which starts with laser-beam synth arpeggios and choir-like drone. After an opening from the inimitable Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), the bass rolls in like thunder. Yes, there is no mistaking this for “freak-folk,” or “indie,” or anything similarly fey. This is dance music, and, for the first time, you can actually understand the words.

After such a strong one-two punch, one might expect things to slow down, but “Also Frightened” and “Summertime Clothes” are equally strong. Things do drag a bit through the middle as Avey Tare and company get slightly caught up in experimental noodling, but it’s all worth it for “Brother Sport.” I’ve been in the “indie music” scene for four or five years now, and I can confidently say that “Brother Sport” is the culmination of the fusion of independent and pop music started in 2005 with the huge crossover success of the Arcade Fire. Like the other excellent songs on Merriweather Post Pavilion, “Brother Sport” builds. With each repeated vocal line, another layer is added, and the tempo seemingly increases ever so slightly. Finally, at 3:15, the final iteration presents itself, and all hell breaks loose.

Stylistically, Merriweather Post Pavilion succeeds because it is the perfect fusion of indie, experimental, and dance sensibilities. More important than any genre classification, however, is the fact that Animal Collective has finally come to grips with the fact that they are a pop band that wants to write infectious songs. This album is the sound of pure joy.

-L. Spencer