Animal Collective Sung Tongs (Vinyl LP) * * *

More than any previous release, Animal Collective's 2004 critical breakthrough Sung Tongs hinted at the melodic sensibility and melding of widely disparate influences that would lead the group through subsequent crossover success with their 2005 effort Feels, on into their massive surge in popularity with 2009's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Sung Tongs has been called revelatory, epiphanic, dizzying and stunning...it's no exaggeration that the album documents an essential stage in the evolution of one of the great creative musical forces of our time.