Paging Saint Grizzly Bear!

gorgeous dudes, rite?!?!

I heard Grizzly Bear the first time in college and I was in love from the getgo. The way Ed Droste's voice was beyond gorgeous, the way the instrumentals sounded, the lyrics....I was hooked from then forward. They were like nothing else I had ever heard. so atmospheric, but not like Air. And they were melancholy, but not like Elliott Smith or Nick Drake. Just in their own vein; beautiful, fragile and dense. Which is how their newest album works, Shields.

Are all great albums of 2012 break-up albums? We have Fiona's bloody hemorrhage, Jens Lekman's broken heart and the Xx's depressive sour note.....where do these boys stand?

Somewhere in the middle. Gentle and ethereal.

"The cold keeps tearing at me..." Droste sings in "Gun-Shy" easily the best track from the album. And what does this track even mean? As long as you're with someone, are you terrified to voice your complaints? Pull trigger on said gun? "Oh, god." As usual, the harmonies make every track nothing short of (and don't bring to mind the drag queen) divine.

"Yet Again" has a somewhat surf rock feel to it, in a weird vein. But it manages to build to something more. Yes, it is very tempting to dismiss this band as another hipster love affair, obsession. But they are so much more talented than that!

I posted this before; I am well aware.

The rest of this album has this sweet yet ominous air to it and- overlook their last album, despite the strong tracks ("Two Weeks," "Cheerleader," "I Live With You"- which I always read bitterly- like "I LIVE WITH YOU! dammit!") this is by far their best since Yellow House.

"What's Wrong"-

"where are you? what'd I do? What's wrong?"

Gorgeous. End-all. One of the best albums of 2012. Someone breathed some much-needed life into folktronica.

rating: a solid A

We should be in love with these fine Brooklyn boys for years to come.

Comments

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The Useless Critic 2.0

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