The cult of celebrity surrounding indie spazz-poppers Animal Collective’s new album is astounding: hype and nerdy pining are to be expected, but this is something else entirely. Blogs haven’t been so much abuzz as ablaze, and fans have gone as far as hacking the band’s email account in hopes of attaining an advance copy of the album. As Ateaseweb’s “Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion, HYPE!” discussion thread hit its 1000th (!?!?) page, one can’t help but wonder: is this the moment when indie-rock’s prized band of weirdo rockers finally emerges from the underground?
