My Girl.

Vibe with me, now.

I did it.

I finally bit the bullet.

This past weekend I pressed play on a [legal] stream of Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, this despite the fact that I don’t care much for the musical output of the boys in the band.

Wait a minute,

Let me finish.

Feels, Strawberry Jam, OMG: Nobody Does it Better: The EP*; Nothing. The curious, always on the hunt for a good long player music fan in me approached many an Animal Collective album with open arms and an open mind, only to be left out in the cold, ambivalent if you will, after quickly deciding a minute or two into a track or three to four songs in that, “You know what, maybe this isn’t for me.”

Each album, each EP, I arrived at Point A [listening curiously with an open mind] because someone told me to. Pitchfork, the New York Times, countless bloggers, somebody, told me, to give it a spin, check it out, and be blown away by yet another astonishing start to finish LP from Animal Collective.

So there I was last weekend, finally giving in; Finally biting the bullet and seeing what all the fuss was about [again] with this new Animal Collective record. No skipping tracks, no going straight to the “bomb ass single”. Like a kid fresh from Tower Records post midnight, I was ready to unwrap the plastic, sit back, and listen without prejudice.

But it was hard, for once again I was quickly reminded that, “You know what, maybe this isn’t for me.”

And then this song started.

Read a review of Merriweather Post Pavilion, and you’ll find that one thing many a critic can agree on is how great the song My Girls is. And they ain’t plalyin’. Prior to this song’s turn at the bat, it didn’t take long for my interest to wane and the music from the disc to get lower and almost fade into the background, but when this track came on, I sat up straight, ears at attention, ready for the sound. It took a minute [also known as “letting the beat build”], but once the song settled into its groove, it was hard for me to turn it down, look away, and not care about the musical output of Animal Collective…for five and a half minutes. Press play below on the music video for the track and find out why.



*Said EP may not actually exist.

STEREOGUM: New Animal Collective Video - "My Girls"