2000 & 9 #1

#1

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest


In a landslide!

(I can see the headline the day after the release of Veckatimest) - "Brooklyn's finest sons return in '09 with not only the album of the year, but one of the most sophisticated, daunting, challenging and brilliant album's of the decade!!"

Where do I begin, what do I say, how do I form words? No, really, it's that good. (Locked in a trance!) Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen, Chris Taylor & Chris Bear straight bringing their distinct brand of experimental psychedelic art pop folk to the masses. An album that equally matches mellow basement groove rock (All We Ask), chirpy pop rock (Two Weeks) & grand ambitious guitar driven bliss (While You Wait For The Others) succeeds in all three & oh so much more.

If you're still not convinced, the further brilliance of Veckatimest comes from the bands willingness to construct as perfect an album as possible & their meticulous attention to detail. Intricate moments of unsuspected beauty attempt to weigh down the album & destroy it's very soul. But they never do, they only inspire. Take for instance the groovy, mellow Fine For Now which in my mind, perfectly explains Grizzly Bear's angle to crafting their masterpiece:

there was time
it took time
there is time
so much time

-Rossen slowly drones while Droste reassuringly chimes in the background. A piece of brooding, slow moving, yet building, simplicity. Cheerleader picks up right where the album needs to continue on to, a forward thinking, highly vocal, glorious attempt at mid-tempo pop. The songs on Veckatimest are balanced among each other with a striking accuracy.

Ready, Able is perfect in every way. With a reassuring, churning, underlying guitar line that soothes, the Bear's stroll through a frantic, almost hurried buzz of a midnight dream. It all culminates with a guitar solo, random voice effects, background electronic effect, until just drums and guitar are left solemn and alone.

While You Wait For The Others is from another planet. The riffy ode to what seems to be a petty disagreement is Grizzly perfection with guitar heavy bravado, vocal harmonies that angels would be proud of and ultimately a song so well structured, it's sickening. The song plays with you - the vocals and guitar exploits blend so heavenly together. The Ohh's and oh,..ohhh, ohhhhhh's play out as an explosion of voice while the guitar loses it's mind - it's all so perfect & HOW DID THEY WRITE THIS SONG!!!????

coming down now, I'm almost glad it's all over, thank you for reading.

Standout track - #10 While You Wait For The Others