By naming their latest - and most critically acclaimed - album Merriweather Post Pavilion, one might assume Animal Collective holds the concert venue in high esteem. Or that the Baltimore natives carry some nostalgia for shows they once saw there. Or that someone in the band lost his virginity there. Something.
Not so much.
The band named their album Merriweather Post Pavilion simply because they like the way the words sound together.
"They were the first group of words we came up with that we thought would be really cool to name the record," says the band's David Portner, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "It sounds kind of futuristic to us."
For Animal Collective, which plays a sold-out show tonight at The Ottobar, it's all about sound and always has been.
From the experimental grooves they forged years ago at the Park School of Baltimore to the lush, electronic, melodic whirl that critics have recently heralded as "one of the landmark American albums of the century," the band essentially worships noise.
Exactly what their sound is, that's hard to say. But it's funny to listen to people try.
"A constantly moving kaleidoscope of sound," says Daily Variety.
"Cross Radiohead, the psychedelic sunshine trippery of Brian Wilson and a bank of Vegas slot machines," says the St. Petersburg Times.
"Harmonic foundations with intertwining celestial singing," writes LAist.
"A shimmering rave-up that feels more about natural highs than chemical abandon," The Guardian says of "My Girls," the hit from the new album.
Brian DeRan, the group's New York-based manager and a co-owner of The Ottobar, won't even try to define the band. "I leave that completely up to them," he says. "They're a unique voice, and it speaks for itself."
These days, if the band's sound isn't exactly speaking for itself, it's certainly being heard by more people.
While, just a few years ago, Animal Collective was something of an acquired taste - the band would take the stage in animal masks, barking, howling and squawking over electronic beats - now it's getting invitations to join huge summertime festivals and make appearances on network television.
Just Thursday, the band played on the Late Show with David Letterman. It appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien earlier this year, too.
Coming from a part of the music scene where each tick up the Billboard chart can be viewed as a step away from authenticity, the band members are a bit conflicted about their rise.
