Music Video Review: Animal Collective's "Brother Sport"

By our guest blogger, Elizabeth Hughes

Animal Collective has released a new video for their song “Brother Sport,” off their 2009 album, "Merriweather Post Pavillion."

The band, comprised of four guys who go by Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist, are known for their experimental songs and trance-inducing beats. They are unclassifiable--you can say they’re anything from indie rock to psychedelic pop, and everything in between.

The video for "Brother Sport" gets your attention, that’s for sure. The second it starts, a heavy feeling of nostalgia sets in as you watch two children run freely through a field. Their outfits look as if they literally took a page from famed children’s book, "Where the Wild Things Are." Because this is an Animal Collective video, the kids are dressed and act like The Wild Things.

A lovable oaf of a dog soon rounds out the group, leaving behind its drunken master and an unexplained superhero sidekick. The real life footage becomes mixed with beautiful animations. These animations mesh surprisingly well with the video, they come and go perfectly with the beat of the song. I can only describe them as looking like what happens inside a Petri dish.

Most of this video is a perfect mix between a child’s wildest fantasy and a mother’s worst nightmare--kids and paint. Lots of paint. All over the walls, all over the rug, all over the kids. And then there are the eggs. Eggs being cooked in the most nauseating way possible, being painted by the children, and finally in the grand conclusion, being eaten by the dog.

I’m sure some Animal Collective aficionados will be pointing out some deep allegory about “letting your inner child out,” and that’s a fine way to look at it, (although I’d like to hear their opinions on what the eggs mean). But I think this video is just eye candy to go with the song.

It may have been shot with their older brother’s video camera, it may be reminiscent of times when you used to paint all over the walls (and the verbal beating that followed.) While “Brother Sport” was one of my least favorite tracks on the album, the video redeems the song.  It’s fun, it’s an adventure to watch, and it’s everything you’d expect from an Animal Collective video.

View the video for Animal Collective's "Brother Sport" below. What are your thoughts?