Veckatimest
I've written about rock music for a long time, way back to my college newspaper days reviewing record albums and concerts. In all that time I've never quite got the hang of it, I suppose because language is insufficient to describe sound, and because, especially with rock music, there is a tendency to tell the reader what other musicians the band in question sounds like. This is, of course, terribly reductive, but irresistible.
Grizzly Bear, a band out of Brooklyn, New York, sounds like quite a few different bands, ranging from The Moody Blues to Radiohead, but in the end they have carved out a niche all to themselves, and it's a luscious one. There sound has elements of both electronic and acoustic, mellow and hard rock, as well as traces of jazz and contemporary classical, such as Phillip Glass.
Their latest album is called Veckatimest, the name of an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Listening to this album is consistently pleasurable, both for the whirling arpeggios and the enigmatic but unpretentious lyrics. Things kick off with the song "Southern Point," which stars as if in the middle, and then comes "Two Weeks," which employs the band's unearthly choral arrangements. The band is so fond of harmonies that on three tracks they use the Brooklyn Youth Choir.
Some of my favorite songs also include "All We Ask," which includes the apt line "And the crowds that light the carnival are calling us home" and "About Face," in which the vocals bear a strong similarity to Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. I also like "Dory," which seems to be about fish: "Wildly coherent in a watery deep we'll drop her down to the bottom we'll drop her down like she's nothing and the water is all/Oh the water is still in a wilder deep/We'll swim around like dories let loose in the bay." Perhaps the strongest track is "I Live With You," which starts small and builds to an incredible power, with terrific drumming by Chris Bear.
Listening to this album I also thought of the British art-rock movement, such as The Smiths and The Cure, but without the moping sense of dread. Grizzly Bear's music is lighter and sunnier, and a complete joy.
Grizzly Bear, a band out of Brooklyn, New York, sounds like quite a few different bands, ranging from The Moody Blues to Radiohead, but in the end they have carved out a niche all to themselves, and it's a luscious one. There sound has elements of both electronic and acoustic, mellow and hard rock, as well as traces of jazz and contemporary classical, such as Phillip Glass.
Their latest album is called Veckatimest, the name of an island off the coast of Massachusetts. Listening to this album is consistently pleasurable, both for the whirling arpeggios and the enigmatic but unpretentious lyrics. Things kick off with the song "Southern Point," which stars as if in the middle, and then comes "Two Weeks," which employs the band's unearthly choral arrangements. The band is so fond of harmonies that on three tracks they use the Brooklyn Youth Choir.
Some of my favorite songs also include "All We Ask," which includes the apt line "And the crowds that light the carnival are calling us home" and "About Face," in which the vocals bear a strong similarity to Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. I also like "Dory," which seems to be about fish: "Wildly coherent in a watery deep we'll drop her down to the bottom we'll drop her down like she's nothing and the water is all/Oh the water is still in a wilder deep/We'll swim around like dories let loose in the bay." Perhaps the strongest track is "I Live With You," which starts small and builds to an incredible power, with terrific drumming by Chris Bear.
Listening to this album I also thought of the British art-rock movement, such as The Smiths and The Cure, but without the moping sense of dread. Grizzly Bear's music is lighter and sunnier, and a complete joy.
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