Grizzly Bear
Veckatimest
In the land of avant-garde indie pop, the battle for the crown wages on between Baltimore’s Animal Collective and Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear-and to argue your point one way or the other usually means sending hordes of hipsters into fits. No matter, though, because both bands seem plenty capable of musically duking it out for years to come. Case in point: Grizzly Bear’s recently released follow-up to 2006’s Yellow House, Veckatimest. The album’s first single, “Two Weeks,” is a glorious hybrid of Beach Boys harmonies and do-wop, all tied together with a subtly pounding organ riff (courtesy of Beach House’s Victoria Legrand). Crashing drums and dissonant vocals abound on standouts like “While You Wait for the Others,” but it’s the eerily beautiful “I Live with You,” complete with guest spots from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the ACME String Quartet, that wins top props, ensuring Grizzly Bear’s in it for the long haul.
