Grizzly Bear

[Czech]

Grizzly Bear "Two Weeks"

KEEPING TABS ON BANDS NOBODY WILL CARE ABOUT IN A MONTH

THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT

 

[Edwin]

I doubt they're going anywhere off the radar anytime soon. I saw them open for either The Books or the Fiery Furnaces...can't remember which. Pretty good live, and their music is probably laid-back but interesting enough to get licensed for commercials or montages in a movie.

 

[Incandenza]

I listened to one of their albums a couple years back (Yellow House, I think) and was mostly bored by it. This isn't some new, overnight-sensation-then-forgotten-about-six-months-later band like Black Kids, Czech. Grizzly Bear has legs, for better or worse.

 

[Edwin]

I heard "Two Weeks" on XM somethingorother the other day. Kind of getting a little more zippy/poppy and veering towards Of Montreal/Phoenix territory from Yellow House, which was more atmospheric (and kinda boring, too). I haven't decided if that's a good thing yet.

 

[Gary]

I saw them open for Radiohead last year. They were pretty dull until nearing the end of their set. On the plus side, they seemed like pretty nice guys.

 

[Sesquipedaliantique]

I got Bat For Lashes on an off day, but that's still probably better than this.

 

[Mik]

For some reason I can't quite remember I thought I strongly disliked Grizzly Bear. This is ok, though. I think I'll download the album now.

 

[Czech]

I dunno guys! I don't get this stuff anymore.

 

[Smartly Pretty]

That song is pretty boring.

 

[Czech]

Forecasted longevity notwithstanding, you can't say it's not destined for the millennial consumerism OST.

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

I don't think I have ever knowingly heard a song by this band. That will probably not change anytime soon.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

I really liked "Knife" so I gave "Yellow House" a listen, but nothing else on the record came even close.

 

[Edwin]

As passe as it is to like Girl Talk, his "Knife"/Clipse mashup is probably my favorite Grizzly Bear-related product.

 

[Kinetic]

Hey, guys. You know that 128k leak of Veckatimest you nabbed that fateful night in March? That is not Veckatimest. Get thee to a buying place.

Get thee to a buying place.

 

[Kinetic]

I dunno guys! I don't get this stuff anymore.

Think I'm with Czech on this one. I haven't liked any of the shit that Pitchfork has championed this year, with the possible exception of the St. Vincent album. Even the stuff that they're praising retroactively is totally mediocre. The Vaselines, anybody?

 

[Czech]

I've recognized a trend, kind of a bell curve with an outward dent on one side, with how I take in this new wave of "psych-folk" or whatever we're calling bearded Brooklyn buzz bands these days (sorry, Devendra via wikipedia, I don't think "New Weird America" ever took off), and Veckatimest appears like it'll follow form. I find the lead single or best song from the album, of which I am initially skeptical before letting down my defenses and fully embracing as a great song, generally listening to on repeat for quite a while. I finally get around to the rest of the album and I am unimpressed. I remain unimpressed as I move on to other stuff, but eventually I get back to it and finally enjoy it the whole way through. Soon, however, I realize I don't really like it as much as I thought I did, save for whatever that initial vanguard was, which I will continue to treasure. So it was with "Peacebone" on Strawberry Jam, "Save Your Love For Me" on Lion Land, "White Winter Hymnal" on the Fleet Foxes s/t, "Summertime Clothes" on Merriweather Post Pavilion, and yes, "Two Weeks" on Veckatimest. The song is in no way representative of the album. Not a lot of interesting things happen on here. I read reviews that called it "boring," which seemed like an odd way to describe anything, but that's pretty much what it is. It's boring, but not boring the way Weezer is boring (oh, another I-IV-V progression? you don't say!), or boring the way contemporary jazz is boring (who needs expressive solos when you can run scales?), or boring the way Stars of the Lid is boring (hours of ambient drones, but I like SotL). It's a more abstract sort, as in "I could've skipped the rest of this album and my life would be no better or worse for it." "Cheerleader" is almost okay. The last track is "Videotape" if songs could eschew bathing. The rest of it means nothing to me. If this is the album of the year so far, I hope it's gratuitously knocked from its perch like Gestahl getting pushed off the Floating Continent. (Did I say that?)

I'm starting to fear that I'm reaching a critical mass of music. I'll grab every jazz album I can find, and I'm always open to more of my beloved downtempo artsy electronic crap, but none of these new albums are doin' it for me, especially of the psychedelic indie folk variety. Like I said, I can probably take one song off each album and compile them into one kick-ass double album, but for the most part, I feel like look, I know Pet Sounds and The Soft Bulletin by heart now, and the novelty is wearing thin. I don't know exactly what I'm asking for from my music, but I do know that every album from here on out with high-pitched keening over a bunch of vague sounds, described as having "meticulous arrangements" and "wide-eyed idealism," is another one too many.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

I think "Merriweather" is one of the best stoned albums I've ever heard and I don't think Fleet Foxes belongs in the same category as any of these other bands, but aside from that I agree with everything czech just said.

 

[Mik]

I can agree with it being boring. It's sonically tight but it's just kinda there.

I do like the first three tracks, though.

Two Weeks is a keeper, though. Love this song.

 

[C Dubya 09]

I can't get this album yet. It just doesn't work for me.

Along the same lines, but different, I'm really enjoying the new Akron/Family disc.

 

[pbone]

Two Weeks is most definitely the single of the album, that is for sure. Take TW out and you have a very cohesive album. It's a good song, but it's the single and sticks out like a sore thumb. Going onto that though, if you buy into Grizz's whole schtick, the whole album runs for an hour and you forget that the songs have changed; the album progresses strikingly well. They've undoubtedly got a sound going on, and while the ingredients are not unusual (slapback guitars, skyward tenors, vocal harmonies, occasionally rambling console pianos), Grizz really sticks their landing with this one. It's eerily so much more than the sum of the part. The drums and bass are the things to pay attention to on the next run-through though, you'd be surprised at how well they set the stage for the overall album.

Nevermind, those fucking fags are using an omnichord all over this record. THIS IS THE SHITTY MUSICAL GADGET TO WATCH IN 2009-10.

 

[Czech]

What is their schtick beyond making mediocre freak-folk and wearing scarves? As great as "Two Weeks" is, the rest of this is as in-one-ear-out-the-other as it gets.

Speaking of new albums, I'm gonna listen to the new Regina Spektor this morning. Thoughts forthcoming.

 

[The Coat Is My Father]

Can we discontinue useage of the term "freak-folk", please? It's an incredibly condescending term invented by lazy music journalists in an extremely dubious attempt at scene comodification. It doesn't have any meaning beyond a shorthand phrase that makes you look like you have no idea what you're talking about.

Contrary to my first post in this thread, I did finally listen to that Two Weeks song. Boring.

 

[Incandenza]

"Don't label me, bro."

 

[pbone]

I can't say that I can describe it very well, but freak folk feels like the logical extension of folk from the last couple of decades; unafraid to grow out into different instruments and instrumentalities, lyrics that range from personal confusion to out and out absurdity to love songs about inatimate objects, a fondness for either the sea or the woods, and everything drenched in reverb. The kind of thing you'd expect from a group of 7 musicians demanding more from their love of the hearty folk of yesteryear. The acoustic guitar is inexorably still at the center of the music, that so much will never change, and there are definitely staples to the genre (fender Telecaster, console pianos, a love of the analog recording process occasionally juxtaposed with white apple laptops, tambourines on top of high hats, and plaid shirts), and a lot of pace changes to the songs.

I can't really tell anyone that this is a good album or not, but it's right at home for me. Yes, Czech, I do have a bon3r for Pet Sounds, but I've been listening to it since I was 12, and either way, I am really appeciating these compositions. They're never haphazard (one of the awful pitfalls of the freak folk genre), always careful and, well, composed.

 

[BUTT]

Oh man, that's really what Devendra Banhart looks like? What a d-bag.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

That d-bag fucked Natalie Portman :-\

 

[pbone]

And Joanna Newsom