Animal Collective

You know; if ever there was a band who pedalled fabulous, wide-screen, straight-down-the-line Beach Boys pop, it’s Animal Collective.

The whole thing smacked of the academic, smugly artistic and the downright confused; so much so that we went early, a course of events unimaginable to us earlier in the day.

The opener, Peacebone is possibly their most direct song to date. Let me break it to you gently; I can understand all the words and I can hum the tune long after it has finished.

It would be tempting to see this album as something of a stopgap – something to tide us over till the main event. But that would be a mistake – Person Pitch is a cracking album in its own right.

Grass, incidentally, is Animal Collective's three-minute pop song – at least it would be if the chorus wasn't screamed.

I think Animal Collective are the making some of the most interesting, challenging and brilliant music around at the moment

This music makes our dogs run out of the room