In a sense, Grizzly Bear are the perfect success story of the current DIY movement. They recorded 2006’s Yellow House themselves in singer Ed Droste’s grandmother’s house in Massachusetts. Critics hailed the album as a masterpiece, but it took a solid year for the indie rock world and a fanbase to catch on. Nonstop touring and countless television and festival appearances later, a buzz started building. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead heard the band’s 2008 cover of Carole King’s “He Hit Me” (2007’s Friend EP) and played it on his DJ set. An opening slot for Radiohead’s In Rainbows tour, a now obsessive fanbase, and increased media coverage make Grizzly Bear one of the biggest and most promising acts around.
On first listen, the most striking aspects of Veckatimest are the cleanliness of the production sound and a newfound sense of optimism. 2006’s Yellow House is largely comprised of ethereal clouds of introspection that sound less like a collection of songs than like a multi-movement suite held together by slowed-down Beach Boys harmonies filtered through an existential lens. With the exception of the retro “Knife,” the album lacked pop hooks and sing-along choruses. Rather, it sold the indie world with texture—layers of acoustic guitars, banjo, and foggy vocals drifted along listlessly save the occasional burst of unexpected harmonies that jolted you out of your meditative trance.
Veckatimest doesn’t necessarily redefine the band as much as illuminate them in a new light—one of a great pop band. Most of the songs take more of a verse-chorus, hook-heavy approach. Songs like “Southern Point,” “Two Weeks,” and “While You Wait For The Others” alternate repetitive verses with gigantic choruses that stay in your head long after the close of the album. While most of Yellow House evoked late-night dreaminess, these songs dollop large doses of summertime sunshine. The result is an album that’s instantly accessible but still carries plenty of headphone subtleties that manifest themselves over repeated listens.
That’s not to say that Grizzly Bear have lost their penchant for experimentation or almost-whispered vocal harmonies. “Dory” opens with the mesmerizing and contrapuntal sounds of a girls choir before settling into Daniel Rossen’s jazzy vocals and guitar work. The sunny folk rock of “Southern Point” is broken with fuzzy synth arpeggi and reversed sounds speeding between the speakers. The sublime “Ready” features Ed Droste’s choirboy moans over a quietly chugging electric guitar and subtle orchestral stabs before opening to a dreamlike world of wordless staccato vocals and high strings. “Hold Still” and “All We Ask” take us to more familiar Grizzly Bear material—quiet vocals floating, delicately textured cymbal work, and tasteful electric guitar chunkiness. But thanks to a larger production budget and two-plus years of heavy touring, the cloudiness of their music sounds cleaner and more intentional. Even when you’re hit with a tidal wave of sound, you can pick the delicate orchestration nuances that make Grizzly Bear stand out so far from their lo-fi Brooklyn peers.
Veckatimest showcases Grizzly Bear at the band’s most mature and sophisticated stage thus far. While it’s certainly their “pop” record, it manages to retain the moodiness and textural experimentation that made them so great in the first place. That the band has made it so far without sacrificing the best aspects of their sound leads to the exciting realization that with their increased budget and visibility, they have the potential to get even better. And Veckatimest is pretty damn good.
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