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25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'without compromise', 25 May 2009
I feel a need to tread carefully with this one. Music reviews, especially on blogs very often only come in one gear: full-throttle, 5 star, album-of-the-millennium, life-changing, bar-raising hyperbole. I'm as guilty of that as anyone, with enthusiasm shown for Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective coming back to bite me slightly. Grizzly Bear have sneaked up on me from nowhere after a recommendation and their name has been mentioned in the same breath as the bands above, partly because their music could be said to inhabit a space between them (Not as folky as the Foxes nor as out there as the Animal's) but mainly because they have all been caught up in the religious fervour of the on-line music reviewing biz.
So with that caveat let me get going with my praise for this quite brilliant album. Grizzly Bear's last, Yellow House, was filled with lots of interesting stuff, an album that created a real atmosphere and rewarded a listening from beginning to end. This follow-up contains far more stand alone tracks, which I'm sure will prove to be far more radio-friendly and lead to much better exposure for the band, whilst some live performances on Later and Letterman won't have hurt either. Two Weeks and While You Wait For The Others, the tracks they performed on Later, are both standouts. The former is a wonderful sunny track punctuated by plonky piano chords which aren't a million miles away from It's A Hard Knock Life from the musical Annie, emphatic organ and bass and a melody which makes it an obvious first single. I defy you not to tap your feet as it begins or nod your head as the organ arpeggios carry the chorus. The latter is far more complex, its lyrics carrying a cruel edge, ('You could beg for forgiveness/As long as you like/Or just wait out the evening/You'll only leave me dry...So I'll ask you kindly to make your way'), the sound of the guitars making it sound like a track from another era but their combination with the vocals and the structure of the song mean it sounds very much of today.
The album's opener Southern Point is typical of the band, managing to start off sounding like one kind of track before carnival drums take it somewhere else, then stripping back and building up layers of sound again, showcasing some of the different styles they are capable of, not really following a verse/chorus structure, not to mention a couple of false endings. It's also an example of their confidence, which manifests itself not so much in being audacious but by sounding completely in control of their music, making music which is uniquely theirs. At times on this album they seem to have the kind of confidence The Beatles must have had at the height of their powers. The beautiful vocals are evident on All We Ask with its haunting closing refrain of 'I can't get out of what I'm into with you' and Fine For Now shows that whilst they may be compared to Fleet Foxes they are capable of making music which contains more variety and lyrics which cut to the quick, 'If it's all or nothing, then let me go'.
That said, there are moments which don't work so well. Ready, Able and About Face are more like the atmospheric but aimless tracks from Yellow House which some will love but after the strength of what has come before (and will come after) they lack grounding. Perhaps these are the kind of tracks that will reward repeated listening. Where that eclectic musicality can work is on a track like I Live With You which seems to contain more narrative than the simple lyrics alone. Many tracks on the album seem to deal with relationships under threat, at that point at which they collapse or survive. Here the music is almost theatrically descriptive and the threat is more like that of attack, 'They'll try, they'll try, they'll try/To keep us apart...You brought us this far/We'll do what we can'. (This may also be one of the few albums to take a fish like the humble dory and spin out a track which is both experimental and oddly touching.)
There is a quality that both albums have in common which is difficult to name, something hard to grasp. I don't want to use a word like dreamy, although that's exactly what a track like Cheerleader is ('I'm cheerleading myself/I should've made it matter'). It certainly isn't light, one critic has already accused the album of being 'demanding', but it is otherwordly. Like the best bands Grizzly Bear are quickly developing something which is theirs alone and the real coup of this album may be to have found a way to get that sound across in a far more palatable form than previously but without concession. As both Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen sing on Hold Still, 'I'll take one chance/Without compromise'. This might be the only chance they need to provide 2009 with one of its best albums.
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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Bear Necessity, 6 Jun 2009
Once in a while an album comes along which puts much of what
one has come to know and love about popular music to the test.
Grizzly Bear's new album 'Veckatimest' is one such creature.
PM's birthday gift to an old Wolf is both a surprise and a revelation.
I have a passing familiarity with their 2006 release 'Yellow House',
a not unpleasant confection but a darker and far more desultory
affair than this fine collection of 12 sparkling new songs.
Comparisons will be found in these pages aplenty so I will try to show
restraint and not add to a potential mire of conflict and confusion.
It seems to me that Grizzly Bear have found a distinctive musical
language quite their own. Richly layered and strangely affecting.
Martial percussion; complex vocal harmonies; elusive melodies and time signatures.
The overall effect is of something curiously unsettled and timeless.
Opening track 'Southern Point' is a scintillating affair suffused with light and shade.
The complex dynamic shifts of both tempo and structural density bare witness to
their creators' refined musical intelligence. A thrilling roller-coaster of a song !
The album proceeds with no perceptible diminution of inspiration or execution.
'Two Weeks' is another marvellous composition. The soaring central vocal performance
and limber supporting harmonies are both gloriously otherworldly.
'Cheerleader' is a whimsical and beautifully constructed piece.
The lovechild of a chance meeting between Phil Spector and The Beach Boys.
Infused with sunlight and warm feeling.
The judicious use of the choir (here as elsewhere) is a real joy.
The song lyrics throughout the project are beguiling and impressionistic.
The subjects clearly personal and difficult to pin down.
This uncertainty is no bad thing and contributes significantly to the
album's atmosphere of magic and mystery.
The strangely fragile opening of penultimate track 'I Live With You'
feels a little like walking into someone else's dream.
Evolving quickly into a widescreen epic it manages to both batter and salve
our senses simultaneously. A small masterpiece of compositional prowess.
Closing song 'Foreground' is a thing of beauty. Held together by the plodding
ostinato of a slightly detuned upright piano, the fragile melody brings this
very special album to a moving and uplifting conclusion.
The choral arrangement in the final bars delivers as fine an ending as one could wish for.
Single minded; uncompromising; inspirational. A complete blast in fact !
Highly Recommended.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Veckatimest - Grizzly bear have totally nailed it, 24 May 2009
I was I admit tempted to seek out one of the early copies of this album which were circulating pre-release. I am glad I didn't not least of all since Veckatimest is beautifully produced and packaged even on a download from I Tunes. Some of it has been well trailed around the music blogs and the band has put in some great appearances on Letterman and Jools Holland. The lead singer of the Fleet Foxes has described it as the album of the decade and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood has described Grizzly Bear as his favourite band. So finally we can judge whether its deserves the anticipation and hype or will it just collapse under the weight of all this expectation?
Based on the huge promise of the wonderful Yellow House particularly with superb songs like "The Knife" "Central and remote" "Colorado" and the brilliant "On a neck and a spit" it is clear that Grizzly Bear have originality & inventiveness in spades particularly in their dream like capacity to mix a vast range of influences but somehow make them sound totally unique and cool. Check out their cover version of Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" to hear a song fundamentally deconstructed and rebuilt so differently that it could sit on the "Twin Peaks" soundtrack! Indeed "too clever by half" has been one charge levelled at them. This has led the recent reviewer of Veckatimest in The Times to question whether "there is a word for an album that you know is excellent, but that you really don't want to listen to"? Challenging" doesn't quite do it, because Veckatimest features some lovely tunes -- but, my God, is it hard work"
Some first thoughts, I have listened to album around four times and hard work its not, indeed it would do this album a massive disservice if it was seen as inaccessible or difficult. True there are some very dense and textured songs on here like "Dory" which is more a lush choral piece sung in a tea room as opposed to a pop song. Similarly "Hold still" is a complex soundscape underpinned by what sounds like a harp, it is also very beautiful. I suspect all these songs will richly reward with repeated listens. More straightforward (in a Grizzly Bear sense) are the brilliant "Two Weeks" possibly one of the songs of the year with Droste's superb vocals. Then there is the almost funky "Cheerleader" backed by the Brooklyn Youth choir with some parts sounding like 10cc (nothing wrong in that). Other delights are the acoustically driven "About Face" which actually reminds me of some of the pastoral themes explored on Midlake's "Trials of the Van Occupanther" and the gorgeous "Foreground" which could easily sit on Mercury Rev's masterpiece "Deserters Songs". Finally "I live with you" has so much going on it's like a mini "White album".
Roxy Music once sang about "modern songs for modern days" and here at last we have a band that is moving in fascinating and totally different territory. In recent weeks I have listened carefully to the current British indie favourites The Horrors and their very strong album "Primary Colours". But sadly if that is the best of the current crop of UK indie then we should worry. With both Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective we have two bands dramatically raising the bar, not only drawing on influences as diverse as the Beach Boys and the Band but pointing a way forward. As for the charge that it is easier to admire than love; well I for one am smitten.
Veckatimest is much deeper and less optimistic than the sheer hedonistic rush of "Merriweather Post Pavilion". This is strength not a criticism. As the album unfolds incrementally it is full of real surprises and unique diversions. As such I would venture to suggest that both these albums will define music in 2009 and well beyond.
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