“While You Wait For The Others” from Veckatimest (2009) It plows ahead with an unexpected transition - the first of many for Grizzly Bear - Droste’s muffled vocals spinning into echo-laden, utterly buoyant closing.Ģ. “Fix It” opens with a lilting flute passage that sounds as though it were plucked straight from a Native American campfire in a Spaghetti Western. That march is soaked in a reverb-heavy effect that sounds similar to many a forthcoming GB guitar or bass spine. The song is epic, wandering, and trippy, yet hinges upon a fairly basic chord progression. But it sets a template for what was to come and “Fix It” - quite fittingly, as per its moniker - exemplifies all that was right with Droste’s aspirations. “Fix It” from Horn Of Plenty (2005)ĭroste’s semi-solo debut as Grizzly Bear is rife with many of the pitfalls of experimental music, from unbalanced levels to overly ambitious atmospherics.
The tune is carnival-esque, poppy, and introspective: a gem. Rossen anchors the vocals, singing “Some tired mantra, crawls ever onward.” It’s just a snapshot of the most formidable lyrics the group has ever written, perhaps a tongue-in-cheek swipe at Grizzly Bear’s forging ahead. On Shields, “A Simple Answer” is a stand-out, cranking out rolling rhythms like a Ford assembly line. It’s the overall strength of Grizzly Bear’s efforts that makes deciding an A-team from its canon a knotty enterprise. And, if the multiplicity of poignant tracks from full-lengths weren’t enough, Grizzly Bear has peppered their history with experimental and gratifying EPs - the equivalents of spun-out road trips to a beach party before an inevitable return home. Horn Of Plenty’s cramped and often sloppy feel gave way to a grandiose openness: a dark basement blooming into the nave of a cathedral. Yellow House and its follow-up, 2010’s Veckatimest, are dense and complicated affairs. It was recorded in a not-so-typical manner: at the founding member’s mother’s home. Its successor, Yellow House, was Grizzly Bear’s first “real” album, boasting the addition of songwriting cohort and singer Daniel Rossen as well as producer/multi-instrumental wunderkind Chris Taylor. Ed Droste recorded the band’s first effort, Horn Of Plenty, almost entirely on his own (with some help from drummer, Christopher Bear) in the typical indie lo-fi manner. And on Tuesday, that imprint ships Grizzly Bear’s most profound, intimate record yet, Shields.Īs cursory surveys go, some might balk at Grizzly Bear’s output since their founding in 2004. Later this month, Grizzly Bear headlines Radio City Music Hall, but they’re still not a household name: The quartet maintains a relatively autonomous pairing with Warp Records, one of the more idiosyncratic and innovative labels in the biz. Yet, the Brooklyn troupe has spent the past decade creeping up Top 10 lists while winning over throngs of fans from sorority sisters to (you knew this was coming) the one-fifteenth-of-one-percent stakeholder (and recent New York Times Style Magazine cover boy) of the Brooklyn Nets. Critical darlings aren’t often financially successful as artists and vice-versa. As far as being a band in 2012 goes, Grizzly Bear has it pretty good.
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