If their previous album was a meticulous exercise in tightly-wound control, this album is a more instinctual and gritty affair. There are moments on SHIELDS that reach out into unexplored territory for the band: psychedelic rock, atmospheric minimalism, and synthesizers. While SHIELDS is definitely a Grizzly Bear record, it uses a much more varied and scattered approach than the intricate VECKATIMEST. Aside from it being a completely refreshing listen, this album will inform much of the band’s fourth full-length album SHIELDS.Īfter touring for VECKATIMEST, Grizzly Bear took a 3-year hiatus from making music together to explore their own divergent musical tastes. If you haven’t heard the album yet, you really owe it to yourself to stop reading now and check out this previous album. Maybe it’s the album’s attention to detail maybe it’s the sincerity the band expressed through the lyrics maybe it’s the melodies and soaring harmonies whatever it is, VECKATIMEST is undoubtedly a hard album to follow up. Grizzly Bear’s second studio album is as finely crafted and poured over as anything available on the indie-rock market. Droste puts it best: “There’s not a lot of songs, but they go a lot of places.2009’s VECKATIMEST is a fantastic album, and it ranks among one of the best albums recorded in the past ten years. Shields’ rich textures and agile arrangements take Grizzly Bear to new heights. Fascinating instrumental flourishes abound - the bass tone on “Gun-Shy” or the flutelike synth line on “A Simple Answer.” And “Yet Again” could very well be the best song the band has ever written, with its swirling, ornate production and founding member Ed Droste’s impeccable melody. Opener “Sleeping Ute” epitomizes this convergence, featuring varying time signatures and stop-and-go tempos, providing a backdrop to a meandering but captivating melody. We get the best of both worlds - a psychedelic mish-mash of unique song structures, intricate ornamentation and beautiful vocals.įinding this terrain where abstract experimentalism meets catchy melodies can often be elusive, but Grizzly Bear roam across it with confidence. Grizzly Bear expertly combine the cerebral, technically tricky art-rock of Dirty Projectors with the pleasant folk harmonies and lush arrangements of Fleet Foxes. It remains difficult to relate to Grizzly Bear’s lyrics, but Shields’ skillful display of studio wizardry more than makes up for it. Shields improves upon Veckatimest’s formula by grabbing and maintaining your attention. Though its high points were amazing, its quality was not completely consistent throughout. Grizzly Bear’s 2009 contribution, Veckatimest, was a solid and beautiful effort, but it lagged at times. On their fourth album, the band has hit their stride, creating not only their best album but perhaps the most enjoyable album of the year.
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The bands that owned the “campus” three years ago - Animal Collective, Dirty Projectors, The xx and Grizzly Bear - have all released new records in 2012, but none are as remarkable as Grizzly Bear’s Shields.
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There’s an “Indie Class of 2009” reunion this year, and Grizzly Bear just arrived fashionably late (with an emphasis on the “fashionably” part).