This is what the Beatles wished they could do in ’67. This is what would have happened if the Beach Boys got a hold of some acid and a sampler. This is what you get when you correctly combine folk, psychedelia, and electronica: a cornerstone album that every indie kid is going to try to mimic for the next 5 years.

Prior to this, I had only heard of Animal Collective by name — never their music — so I had no idea what to expect. I loaded the album, put on my headphones, and went on with some work.

The album started with a wash of psych-electro noise and mellowed out into a standard hippie, folk melody. Not really my taste, but it was good — I had to admit that. Then it exploded. Perfectly. And out of the noise came a thumping 808.

From there, it’s an amazing hour of great beats, psychedelic sounds, experimental distortions, and melodic vocals.

I didn’t get any work done that day.

Rating (out of 5): 5