Grizzly Bear — Veckatimest

Veckatimest

Warp

Chris Burland (CHARTattack)

06/01/2009 1:32pm

This is a big jump for New York-based quartet Grizzly Bear.

While the vast array of musical instruments and sounds compiled on 2006's Yellow House made for a most adventurous and diverse album, Veckatimest fully captures the band's current musical vision, while the overall production quality has been increased tenfold. It's a creative leap very similar to what My Morning Jacket went through between 2003's Still It Moves and 2005's Z.

Opener "Southern Point" is warm and inviting. The song seems inspired by a combination of the hazy, lazy southern Californian sound fused with the British psychedelia of the late '60s. The follow-up and first single, "Two Weeks," is a more open-ended number with soaring falsetto backing vocals reminiscent of Jeff Buckley's vocal style on Grace.

The rest of album expands on these early experimental adventures, though the results are less obvious in their appeal. Each song softly unfolds in a quiet beauty that at times masks its powerful combination of simplicity and nuanced sonic structure.

"Cheerleader" is the closest thing to a single on this album, featuring a shuffle beat and cascading vocals that mirror recent Spoon songs. Tension is built nicely between Daniel Rossen's lead vocals and a countering melody of the accompanying harmony vocals.

The subtlety of Ed Droste's arrangements on "About Face" and its slow vocal delivery is sharply contrasted with the brisk interweaving of guitar bursts and wavering keyboard lines. "Hold Still" is folkier, with Rossen's vocals reminiscent of The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan and Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. The album ends with the delicate piano-driven ballad, "Foreground," which builds dynamic tension through a near-glacier tempo.

The result is an album that's quite hypnotizing — particularly the second half of the disc — though this effect is rather subliminal. It's an album that needs study to yield rewards, as Veckatimest will have little impact on a casual listener.

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