Courtesy of Pitchfork.

When I first heard Animal Collective, I was completely not on board. In fact, for a lot of people they‰’re hit or miss. “Trippy as hell, man‰” as a friend of mine always says. But once you get past the initial impression that they‰’re just a bunch of stoners playing weird stuff, I think a lot can be said about a band that isn‰’t afraid to experiment. Hailing from Baltimore and comprised of childhood friends, AnCo has a sound that is so distinctly theirs that I can‰’t really think of a band to compare them to (I‰’m also from MD- might be a little biased).

Courtesy of Drowned in Sound.

So, this week‰’s vibe: finding the chill. Midterms are upon us and we all know what that means: stress. While usually I get through stressful situations with something a bit mellower, I‰’ve been really into these guys lately, specifically their album Merriweather Post Pavilion. Named after a concert venue in Columbia, MD, MPP has actually helped me get through this week. I like to think of albums in general as an audible journey, and I feel like with MPP, Animal Collective provides its listeners with an escape.

The opening track, “In the Flowers‰Û, is comparable to entering a dream world. Layer upon layer of psychedelic sounds set the mood of the album, and blend into their most popular track, “My Girls‰Û. I love how their songs always start out simple- a solitary sound that they just keep adding more and more to until they reach the final product, sometimes over two tracks. For example, the song “Lion in a Coma‰” is full of energy, upbeat almost to the point of being too much to handle. But it is the perfect song to play before “No More Running‰Û, my personal favorite. After the chaos of “Lion in a Coma‰Û, the dreamy, trance-like sound of “No More Running‰” is like cooling down after a hot day.

The album is crazy good in my opinion, and don‰’t let first impressions fool you like they almost did me. Give it a few listens if you‰’re in need of an escape.