Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest Review

10/10. or 11/10 if I'm allowed to do that by the irrelevant numbers system that people give to rating things.

This album is my favorite album of the year so far, surpassing Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion. It's quickly becoming one of my all-time favorites.

Why?

Typically, I fall in love with an album one by one. I hear a single, with a catchy beat that I constantly have on repeat, then explore the other songs one by one until the 10-13 tracks engulf me and it's all I hear. Or I just hear a single, a catchy beat, and move on to the next song quickly (I have almost 100 gb of music in my iTunes; it's very easy for a song/album to get lost in the abyss).

Grizzly Bear's newest album is different. It instantly sucks you in. From the first track, Southern Point, to the last, Foreground, each song is more entrancing than the next. This is an album you listen to reading in your backyard with the lawn chair that has the flip-out leg part, so you can fully relax. The wind comes over you just enough to make your hair flutter, but not enough to give you the chills. In the 72 degree weather where the sun is just bright enough to cause your hair to shimmer, but not bright enough to blind you, or change your skin color. But it warms you, like this album. From your toes to your hairline, it sweeps over you. The psychedelic and sometimes haunting vocals are reminiscent of the Fleet Foxes, the entrancing melodies reminiscent of the aforementioned Animal Collective record. This is music for the beach. This is music for driving. This is music for reading. This is music for relaxation. This is music for happiness. This is what music is supposed to be. You close your eyes and you feel like you're floating. Or diving slow-motion into a pile of leaves, or a perfect-temperature pool, when your hair swirls like a sea anemone. This album needs to be savored, note by note, song by song, over and over.

As the Daily News wrote in their 5-star review, "While all harmony groups aim for that effect to one degree or another, the melodic patterns these voices follow lends them their own strange glory. Imagine Simon and Garfunkel applying their pretty, fraternal voices to a tune that keeps veering into chords odd enough to have been written by Jeff Buckley. Or conjure Crosby, Stills and Nash - if only they drew as much from chamber and choral music as from folk-rock."

In my opinion, this album needs to be played as loud as possible for you to enjoy it. So if you're at a beach / in public, bring noise-canceling headphones. Or if you're in the quiet of your home, blast it till the walls fall down. "I Live With You" is a great example of that. The swelling that the song hints at after a minute in, and reaches about 2 minutes through... it's just heavenly.

I really can't rave about this album enough. You NEED to buy it. Seriously. Now.


Here's three songs to give you a taste picked randomly 'cause I love them ALL:
I Live With You - Download
Southern Point - Download
Two Weeks - Download

& here's a bonus track from their 2006 release, Yellow House which is how I first heard of them (Horn of Plenty was their debut released in 2004). I like this album a little less than their newest... like an 8/10. Still DEFINITELY worth checking out.

On A Neck, On A Spit - Download

If you have another album/band you think I should check out, or have thoughts on this album, please write in the comments!