Hello there. It is finally May 26th. What does that mean? Nothing. Except for the fact that Grizzy Bear’s Veckatimest has finally come out! If your like me, you have been waiting impatiently for this album to come out since you first heard the live versions of “While You Wait For The Others” and “Two Weeks”. I played those songs way too much for my own good, especially for live versions. Now those songs are completely polished, such as “Two Weeks” sounding completely different with haunting vocals from Victoria of Beach House.
While those two songs are the clear runaway best songs on the album, Grizzly Bear would tell you not to think of them that way. While there may not be an album full of standout tracks like those, there are rather songs that fit the mold of an album better that end up helping them more than hurting them. Instead of being an album of singles and filler, you have a complete set of beautiful songs. Grizzly Bear made this album for the real music listener. You cannot possibly judge this album based on one listen. Just like you shouldn’t have judged the album based on a shitty 128 kbps leak. It was not the way the band wanted you to hear it.
Veckatimest is an album full of depth. There is tons going on in each song. It is both amazing and scary on what this band can do. At any given moment they can resemble a full choir, all nailing their harmonies in unison. They can take a simple folk song and develop it into a complete folk-rock prog freak out. There are no limits to what Grizzly Bear can do. Hell, they probably made the best pop song of the year with “Two Weeks.”
I’ve been reading blogs and forums and people are totally enjoying this record, but they are also somewhat disappointed. Is this because of the unfair MPP standard? Everyone is already comparing this to MPP, which is not right. If your doing this, you will never be happy with this record. You need to just let Veckatimest grow on you naturally and see how you feel over time. This is not the type of record that you get a complete feel on after one listen. You need to date this bad boy and get to know it well. It is that good. The tracks that people say are boring…have only grown on me. This is the true indicator of a great album, with staying power! Tell me that the albums last track “Foreground” isn’t just straight out beautiful. That piano along with Ed’s voice is just mind blowing.
Opener Southern Point sets the stage quite well. It is a big bombastic opening with a wide screen view. Rossen really makes the track explode. What a way to start this record. Tracks like Ready, Able and Cheerleader are just unbelievable. The band has found away to go above what they did on Yellow House, and that is pretty incredible!
I’ve been playing it non-stop, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. This record has completely reached my expectations and gone even further. This will be the soundtrack of my summer, and I am perfectly fine with that.
[mp3] : Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
[mp3] : Grizzly Bear – Ready, Able
[mp3] : Grizzly Bear – Southern Point
Join the conversation