Pitchfork

Though Animal Collective are famous for stuffing their live sets with new and unreleased material, the trio's current tour will find them taking a more traditional route. Namely: Playing a fair amount of tracks from their most recent album, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

"We just feel that if we forced the situation and jumped ahead and started writing new stuff-- we're not in a new place right now," Dave Portner (aka Avey Tare) told Mark Richardson in this week's Pitchfork interview. "I feel like it took a little bit of work to bring us to this point."

And if we could pick a time for this restless group to rest (however slightly) on their laurels a bit, now is that time. We like the songs on Merriweather Post Pavilion. A lot.

After finishing their current warm-up U.S. tour, the crew will make their way across Europe in March before returning to bigger North American venues in May.

In other Animal Collective news, "My Girls" has been named Merriweather's first official single-- it will get a digital release March 23 in the UK via Domino.

Dates:

01-20 New York, NY - Grand Ballroom
01-21 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
01-22 Chicago, IL - Metro
01-23 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
01-24 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
03-04 Oslo, Norway - Rockerfeller
03-05 Lund, Sweden - Mejeriet
03-06 Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
03-08 Cologne, Germany - Gloria
03-09 Heidelberg, Germany - Karistorbahnof
03-10 Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri-Son      
03-11 Luzern, Switzerland - Konzerthaus Schurr     
03-12 Florence, Italy - Viper Room     
03-13 Rome, Italy - Teatro Studio     
03-14 Milan, Italy - Rolling Stone     
03-16 Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie    
03-17 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso    
03-18 Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique     
03-19 Lille, France - Aeronef     
03-20 Nantes, France - L'Olympic     
03-22 Bristol, England - Trinity Centre    
03-23 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms     
03-24 London, England - The Forum    
03-25 Leeds, England - TJ’s Woodhouse Club     
03-26 Liverpool, England - Static Gallery    
03-27 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod     
03-28 Belfast, Ireland - Stiff Kitten
05-11 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05-12 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
05-13 New York, NY - Terminal 5
05-14 Boston, MA - House of Blues
05-15 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
05-16 Toronto, Ontario - Sound Academy
05-18 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Hall
05-19 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
05-20 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
05-24 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
05-25 Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
05-26 Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre
05-27 Big Sur, CA - Henry Miller Memorial Library
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern
05-30 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
05-31 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater
06-01 Albuquerque, MN - Sunshine Theater
06-02 Boulder, CO - Boulder Theatre
06-04 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
06-05 Austin, TX - Stubbs
06-06 Oxford, MS - The Library
06-08 St. Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
06-09 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
06-10 Orlando, FL - Club Firestone
09-12 Monticello, NY - All Tomorrow's Parties