Veckatimest

The disc that was worth waiting

The American indie band Grizzly Bear managed to make a descent reputation in the world music only for five years of its existence. First of all, we should notice that it announced about itself by the album Horn Of Plenty in 2004. In the matter of music, the genre of this disc was defined as lo-fi, indie rock, anti-folk and even freak-folk. This disc was mostly a solo effort of Ed Droste, one of the quartet’s members. However, Horn Of Plenty put the beginning to the formation of Grizzly Bear as we know it today. Besides Droste, the command features Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and Chris Taylor. The continued with the disc Yellow House, titled this way in honor of the house, where it was recorded - it belongs to Rossen’s mother. The band made an extremely tight touring schedule after it and during different concerts it performed on one stage with such celebrities as Radiohead, Feist and TV On The Radio. However, the artists found some time between the concerts to get to recording of their third studio attempt in summer 2008. Thus, in spring 2009 we can enjoy the new release by Grizzly Bear, the wonderful disc Veckatimest. Although bout three years passed from the previous disc, this work is absolutely worth such a long period of expectation, as it overdoes its predecessors in many extends.

Veckatimest is the center of deserved attention

Recently, Grizzly Bear performed before Radiohead during their tour leg in the US. At one of the shows, Radiohead’s member Johnny Greenwood stated that Grizzly Bear is his favorite command. No wonder, that the new disc by the artists titled Veckatimest got into the center of attention far before its official release – the recommendations of such mature rockers and an amusing previous release were much more effective than any commercial advertisement. The album opens with the psychedelic folk track in a retro style Southern Point. Decorated with the piano play, the motif Two Weeks will remind the listeners of the pop music of 80s. These energetic first tracks give place to the more slow-paced middle of the disc with such melodies as the delicate Ready, Able – the fairy-tale composition with the symphony strings arrangement made by Nico Muhly- and psychedelic Dory. The infectious tune While You Wait For The Others can be called the melodic climax of the disc, so perfect and hooking it is. Such reluctant tracks as All We Ask and Fine For Now are no ways the filling material, although they may not impress you from the first listening as the album closer Foreground, for example. This pop ballad in the moods of 80s is decorated with the organ play – the arrangement to it was also crafted by Nico Muhly, who worked with Grizzly Bear over about one third of the songs from Veckatimest.

Moving forward makes the secret of success

The members of Grizzly Bear demonstrate us an astonishing unanimity on their new long-play. The collective is ruled by harmony and unity, which is evident as the whole disc of Veckatimest is filled with the soul of collective search for the original way. The artists present us with their new vision on this work and their progress – the vocals became sharper, the lyrics got more depth, while the arrangements impress with their kaleidoscopic nature. One can also notice a big step forward in the field of producing work. Well, the Veckatimest disc can be freely called the specimen of fruitful cooperation and collective creative work by a bunch of extremely gifted individuals. However, it all did not make the personal qualities of each member vanish in the melting pot of the band, the four men managed to stay aside from each other, although all the twelve songs of this full-length are a result of co-ordinated labor of the Grizzly Bear quartet. The material of this album is assured, mature and more diverse than the essence of its predecessors – moreover, the music on Veckatimest has much more dynamics. This amazing disc will provide you with both complicated symphonic arrangements and even the triumphant sounds of organ and with the dear to the listener’s ear pop rock tunes as well. And even these pop-tracks will seem memorable and fresh for you.