The success of Animal Collective is truly inexplicable, at least it would have been to many music listeners back in 2004. Their music defies genre, can seem dissonant at times and is often downright weird.
I wasn’t sure what to make of them when I came across “Sung Tongs” in 2004, but there was something captivating about their distorted, dreamy sound that kept me listening. “Feels” came out the next year and it was a big step towards making Animal Collective more accessible, thanks to catchy tracks “Grass,” “The Purple Bottle,” and “Banshee Beat.”
Then came “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” which was arguably one of, if not the, best albums of 2009. Oddly enough, it took the departure of guitar player Deakin for the Collective to fully realize their unique sound. (In many ways, Panda Bear’s “Person Pitch” is the sonic precursor to “Merriweather,” moreso than “Feels.”)
“My Girls” is the closest thing to a single we’ve ever heard from Animal Collective and it’s irresistible. Pitchfork named it the #1 Song of 2009 and listed it #9 in their Top 500 Tracks of the 2000’s. NME ranked it the 5th best song of 2009.
According to Panda Bear, “My Girls” is about his “desire on a basic level to own my own place and kind of provide a safe house for my family and the people I care about.”
If you’ve never heard it before, I’m sure you’ll like it. Everyone does.
