Brace yourselves; The Beatles / Radiohead comparisons are coming. Not that they aren’t well-deserved. At this point in their career, getting compared to Grizzly Bear themselves should be considered a huge honor. This band’s rise from relatively unknown solo vehicle to Top 10 Billboard selling power-group has been unprecedented throughout the past few years, due much to the hype that surrounded their 2009 release, Veckatimest. Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of that album. Yeah, sure, it had some cool parts and some great guitar-playing, but nothing about it really stuck with me. It was a relatively straight-forward record, and I’m not a very straight-forward kinda guy. However, I have tons of respect for the band, so when first single “Sleeping Ute” from this year’s Shields was released, I decided to give it a spin. Why the fuck not, right? Thankfully, I was rewarded for my curiosity by the epic psych-rock masterpiece that is “Sleeping Ute”, in which Daniel Rossen’s sharp riffs cut through the hazy production, demanding your attention. The song had a true feel of a classic to it, and at last I was finally interested in what Grizzly Bear had to offer. And it seems I caught on at the right time; its been a week and a half since Shields leaked and “Sleeping Ute” isn’t even close to my favorite track on the album.
Everything that turned me off from Veckatimest is gone, and in its stead is an album bursting with creativity, one willing to embrace any sound as long as it fits within the framework of what the album tries to accomplish. Singles “Sleeping Ute” and “Yet Again” are carried by Rossen’s unbelievable guitar-work, but those are the only tracks on the album where the guitar is the most prominent instrument at play. Most of the songs are driven by a wide palette of instruments and sounds, and its here where the group’s new-found knack for songwriting really shines through.
Every track on this record stands out. And while there’s only technically 9 tracks on the album, each one is fleshed out enough that they manage to cover more musical ground than ever before. The psychedelic freakout of “Sleeping Ute” proceeds into the one-two anthemic punch of “Speak in Rounds” and “Yet Again”, the latter of which I would argue is the best song these guys have ever put out. The way the track erupts into buzzsaw guitars and crashing drums at the end is very The Bends-era Radiohead, which gives credibility to the comparisons. The piano-led track “The Hunt” which follows doesn’t hurt it either, especially given the eerie similarities between Ed Droste’s clear-as-day falsetto and Thom Yorke’s. The middle section of the album is very Amnesiac-esque as well, drawing on jazzy influences to add extended musical codas to otherwise typical indie fare. What separates Grizzly Bear from a band like Radiohead, however, is their energy. They know how to go off on tangents, but they also know how to stay on point, and drive that point home hard. Every member knows how to play the shit out of their instruments, and for the first time in their careers, it seems they’re finally confident enough to show off a little. Check out the multiple climaxes of album closer “Sun In Your Eyes”, where Chris Bear’s splashing cymbals and blinding keyboards bring to mind the song’s title, or the rumbling drums and bass thunder of “Half Gate”, a song which ends up being really fucking heavy in this ominous, apocalyptic way. This band has power, and while they’re reserved enough to only show it occasionally, when it does appear, its incredible to behold. I wouldn’t be surprised if their next album was full on metal. Not actually, but like, actually.
The most exciting thing about this album, in my very humble opinion, is how I truly think they can do even better. Not to discount this album by any means; Shields is a very strong contender for the very coveted Album of the Year position for me, and I don’t think I’ve heard such a strong collection of songs put to record yet this year. There’s just something about the album, whether it be the energy, creativity, skill involved, whatever, that makes me feel like this band is still picking up steam. It is, after all, only the 4th album of their career, and their 3rd as a cohesive unit. With the massive success of the forays into experimentation on this album, one can only imagine how they’ll integrate them further into their already immaculate sense of songwriting. Grizzly Bear have nowhere to go but up, which is crazy considering how high they already are.