Well, it's barely even February and the album that will have everyone arguing that it is one of the best albums of this decade or dreadfully overrated is already upon us. Ready for the album that you're gonna hear about at least a hundred more times this year and for many more years to come?

New York's Animal Collective have been making weird and stupendously pretentious records since the near beginning of this decade and I honestly will admit to not "getting" them for the longest time (Sung Tongs still sucks Boneman, I don't care how many times you try to tell me that album doesn't). But in the last few years, Animal Collective started doing something I never thought they would: they started becoming more accessible. The abrasive noise and overtly pretentious arrangements were still there but just lying underneath, especially on 2007's Strawberry Jam, I thought for a split second that I heard a band that was trying their damndest to blend some harmonies and strong structure into their coda of organized chaos. It's two years later and three men that bafflingly call themselves Panda Bear, Avey Tare and Geologist have done the unthinkable. They've crafted, in my opinion, not only what will most surely be the best album of 2009 but probably one of the albums that will be remembered as one of the best of this decade.

What is it that is so groundbreaking about Merriweather Post Pavilion? Everything really. The sonic noise melded with the Electronic beats fused with the Beach Boys style harmonies are like lobster tail soaked in drawn butter. It's all just magic that makes me grin from ear to ear. Not a single second or note is wasted or played for too long or overstays its welcome. Every time I listen to this record, I find two new things I like about it I hadn't noticed before. It's challenging. It's rewarding. It doesn't sound like anyone else but them. It's refreshing in every way and I can't gush about it enough. It's like the first time I heard Radiohead's OK Computer in 1997 and couldn't stop listening to it and still can't. Ready to take the plunge yet? Ready to call me crazy? Please do so. But be forewarned, you'd better pack a lunch because I will defend the greatness of this album ‘til the day of my very last breath.