ALBUM REVIEW: Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest

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ALBUM REVIEW: Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest

POSTED: Thursday, May 28, 2009, 7:48 PM

Filed Under: Music Album

On their third studio album, the Grizzly is witnessed in a comfortable habitat. Embracing a slightly cleaner production style than 2006's Yellow House, the group's distinct vocal harmonies benefit from an absence of the ambient reverb-laced recording of their previous album. They borrow from folk and Americana, while addressing personal topics such as loss and isolation. At times, Veckatimest is reminiscent of self-titled album frmo their mammal cousins Fleet Foxes. But while the Foxes garner praise for their return-to-roots approach to folk, Grizzly Bear could not sound any more modern on this release ' unless they swapped their guitars for synthesizers.

Full of sweeping melodies and sparse rhythms, the album is a collection of well-crafted, lucid pop songs. The steady slow-strum of the guitar in "Hold Still" sounds like a harp, swaying the track back and forth as if it were a lullaby. Similarly, many of the lyrics use natural imagery to create a parallel to the wavering aural textures. The first line of the album ' "Our haven on the southern point is calling us" ' leads the listener out of civilization and toward a forest; on the track "Dory," the line "We'll swim around like two dories, let loose in the bay" captures the peace of sea.

Even at Veckatimest's heaviest moments, the music is still soothing. On "While You Wait For the Others," the chorus is overwhelming in its dynamic change within the song, but it's still quite moving and delicate after the initial shock. The song is perhaps the defining moment of the album ' it's honest in content and clear in production, but possesses a subtle, ethereal undertone that marks the effort far more clever than your typical indie folk record.

Tue., June 2, 8 p.m., $18-20, with Here We Go Magic, The Troc, 1003 Arch St., 215-922-LIVE.

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