Wednesday 11/07/07 Animal Collective @ Coronet, London

Animal Collective – the premier avant psyche popsters - take to the stage whilst Orson play over the speakers. Orson. Really? It’s a quick switch from a recording of a disposable and incredibly bland pop artist to a performance from a group that continuously push the furthest boundaries of pop to create great, genre traversing songs.

They proceed to play a set which includes some older material and some of Panda Bear’s (he who plays on the most minimalist of drum sets) solo work. Amongst the older tracks are the spectacularly effervescent 'Who Could Win A Rabbit' and the hypnotic, skewed harmonies of 'Leaf House' from Sung Tongs. 'Loch Raven' from Feels also makes an appearance, its eerie atmospherics bringing a change of pace to the proceedings.

For the most part though the gig is used to showcase unreleased and new material, including tracks from their forthcoming seventh album Strawberry Jam, amongst which are some of their most accessible work to date. The whirling of fairground rides, towering pop melodies and impassioned vocals (and less reverb than previous work) recur throughout the album’s tunes.

During the performance the band have little interaction with the crowd, instead of between song banter they segue effortlessly from song to song building up from pulsating beats and whispers of vocals to great, euphoric moments where their intricately layered creations sweep and echo throughout the venue.

When the music dips however the flaws of the performance sometimes becomes apparent. The stage setup – three members with backs to the audience for the most part cocooned by their large amount of equipment leads to a slight detachment from the band and audience. Whilst the band themselves are clearly continually immersed in the music they are creating it is easy to sometimes feel like a mere observer, this is a shame as at their most glorious and affirming moments you too become immersed in the music and are taken into the strange and wonderful worlds they create with their songs.