Animal Collective have got the knack for reinventing themselves continuously while somehow pretty much never bulging at all, having taken a sinuous path from Avey Tare and Panda Bear’s original lo-fi smudges of Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished to the more accessible and poppier Feels And Strawberry Jam. Their latest effort, Merriweather Post Pavilion, sees the Collective’s trademark hypnotic sound seriously electronically enhanced, as if Strawberry Jam had been dipped in Detroit grooves and properly disfigured by heavy doses of acid. Animal Collective, in a trio configuration in the absence of Deakin, gave the tracks off Merriweather a thorough airing at Koko, kick-starting the show with In The Flowers and Taste, then scanning through Bluish, Summertime Clothes or Daily Routine, linking each track with atmospheric spaces, often providing Panda Bear with extensive free vocal opportunities.

Some older tracks also got to show off in relatively new attire, none of them fitting quite perfectly, but the main focus of evening was on the new material, and the trio seemed as much at ease it this resolutely electronic set up as they are with guitars and percussions. The heavy pounding inflicted by AC had something of hardcore club techno music heard through a cotton wall of marshmallow. Hallucinogenic grooves, incantation-like songs and thunderous lightning all contributed to create a somewhat alien yet familiar cocoon which suited the new songs very well. Yet, despite the thick woolly aspect of the backdrops woven by the trio, delivered through Koko’s massive PA , the sound was surprisingly clear, allowing for some of the minor elements to come through incredibly bright and powerful. It was like anything from incidental found sounds to powerful drums had equal right to feature prominently.

Animal Collective are not much of an entertainment on stage, with Geologist and Panda Bear fenced in by banks of electronics and a set of toms for Panda Bear. Only Avey Tare used some of the wide stage, jumping from yet more electronics to guitars and percussions, occasionally stopping behind the mike when vocal duties called. The music though doesn’t require them to keep the audience busy with stage tricks, yet the crowd, which had packed Koko to the bream, seemed pretty blasé to the spectacle. Only when the band proceeded toward an incendiary Brother Sport, spilling its drilling little melody with no restraint, did the audience finally appeared to let go and jump around.

It has to be said though that Animal Collective kept the fire very much under control the whole night, alternating upbeat and more reflective moments with insistent regularity. Returning for a three song encore, they kicked off with a somewhat gluey and lacklustre Banshee Beat then ploughing through Chores much more convincingly before signing off with the feel-good and beautiful My Girls.

Celebrating the release of their ninth album, their second for Domino, Animal Collective delivered quite a sleek performance, but the essence of the band still provided enough organic moments to make this a true Animal Collective event. They might have tidied their sound and refined their songs, but the band are still utterly unique in every single way.

Animal Collective | Animal Collective (MySpace) | Domino Recording Co.