Internal Debate: Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest

From one Staff Writer calling it the strongest contender for Album of the Year to another calling it lukewarm at best, Grizzly Bear’s latest, Veckatimest, has people talking and serves as a prime example of why Internal Debate is necessary. The Stereo Subversion series has looked at several albums – from The Decemberists’ Hazards of Love to the latest from Akron/Family – in the hopes of revealing a communal review and providing you, dear reader, with a well-rounded perspective.

Watching a band circle greatness can often be as fascinating as what happens when the band achieves that greatness. Yet Grizzly Bear have been publicly figuring their sound out for the better part of this decade, so it’s about time that all of their tinkering came to fruition, as it does on Veckatimest, a gorgeous song cycle that finds Grizzly Bear perfectly balancing their experimental-folk tendencies with their love for pop harmonies. This is their Strawberry Jam or their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot which, hopefully, indicates that Grizzly Bear have more work of this magnitude within them. [Daniel Kirschenbaum]

After building a House out of eclectic, luminous arrangements, and coalescing different genres into a stunningly singular whole, Grizzly Bear’s return to the musical fold finds the quartet retaining the psychedelic accoutrement of their previous effort while sharpening the focus and structures of their songwriting. Veckatimest’s lack of sonic diversity may be cause of concern, at first. However, over multiple listens, the myriad of sonic treasures to uncover expertly demonstrates the Brooklyn-band’s stunning, shimmering creativity. [Jon Graef]

Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes that bear tastes like one big old chocolate Easter bunny. There’s just something sugary sweet, Beach Boys Pet Sounds-y about a track like “Two Weeks”, with its densely layered vocals and stately piano. It’s akin to Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks, albeit without all the LSD weirdness. Wading into Veckatimest is like watching a foreign movie – a torrid love story, of course, with the subtitles turned off. You may not always catch the dialogue, but it’s nevertheless a beautiful experience. [Dan MacIntosh]

I want to like Grizzly Bear. Really, I do. But rarely do they inspire more than a lukewarm reception from my eager ears. Veckatimest is no exception. Although “Cheerleader,” “While You Wait for the Others” and album closer “Foreground” are decent tunes, Veckatimest is plagued by a layer of dust, of sonic sediment that often transforms the album’s soundscapes to dismal grey and Daniel Rossen’s vocals passionless rather than Yorke-ian. Lukewarm is better than icy, but a bit of piping hot certainly couldn’t hurt here. [Natalie B. David]

Veckatimest isn’t the type of album you can wrap you mind around in a matter of few listens. Its arrangements are too expansive and it’s trademark soaring melodies develop too unpredictably to experience the same sort of instant gratification that comes hand in hand with run of the mill pop music. Repeated listens are a necessity to gain a thorough appreciation and you don’t have to get Yellow House to get Veckatimest. “Two Weeks” could possibly be the best song written so far this year and “Foreground” could possibly be the most gorgeous. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up. [Steve Schusler]

Currently the indie circle princes, Grizzly Bear have the near insurmountable task of living down the slow burn of
2006’s Yellow House. With a hint of menace and an abundant smattering of layered arrangements (and some incredible drumming), Grizzly Bear have not only surpassed expectations, they have created a near-classic album. Songs like “Two Weeks” and “Cheerleader” are instantly ingrained in the consciousness, while deft numbers like “All We Ask” and “While You Wait for the Others” promise satisfying repetition. Time and the notoriously short attention span of bloggers will be the judge of Veckatimest, but it is assuredly the strongest contender for album of the year thus far. [Scott Elingburg]

Bands with any aspirations towards so-called “pop” music, take heed: Grizzly Bear has beaten you at your own game. Veckatimest plays as a near-perfect album, pop or otherwise. We shall use the word “pop” merely for the sake of argument, and to set Veckatimest amongst the company of the classics that come to mind when we evoke a word with such history. On this album we have deeply beautiful, accessible moments (the chorus of “Two Weeks”), i.e., pop in its absolute best incarnation. And just because Grizzly Bear loves you and wants you to be stimulated (intellectually and otherwise), they’ve taken the trouble to conjure challenging, ambitious flourishes that never feel like affectations. All this culminates in the climactic “I Live With You” and codas with the dénouement of “Foreground.” We are let down easy, have been gracefully shown the door. We come away not with hooks running through our brains, but rather the remnants of experience. With memories. Memories encouraging us the revisit Veckatimest, frequently and for a damn long while. [Thom Plasse]

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