Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

Look up "Veckatimest" on Wikipedia and you'll find an entry for this album. You'll also find an entry for "Veckatimest Island," the smallest, uninhabited island of the Elizabeth Islands near Cape Cod, MA. I don't know what inspired Grizzly Bear to title their third LP after this, but you can be positive of one thing: the island is not a metaphor for the album. In Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear have orchestrated a beautiful, nuanced (at times, almost painfully so), and sonically populated album that not only improves on their sensational Yellow House, but challenges the concepts of "immediacy" and "sprawl" by creating an album that truly encompasses both without being defined by either. Don't believe the hype, because it's entirely possible that this album might be even better.

So much has been made of early singles "Two Weeks," "Cheerleader," and "While You Wait For The Others," the latter of which could very easily be the best song released this year. Both "Two Weeks" and "While You Wait..." capitalize on a theme of minor verses that segue into expansive, echoing major choruses that find the whole band embracing the chorus-in-an-empty-church sound so prevalent on Yellow House, but with an added fullness that feels like the sonic equivalent of moving from black & white TV to color (or maybe more aptly, from regular TV to HDTV). The album provides a natural ebb-and-flow, and while many people may find the temporal downshifts towards the middle encumbering, the contrast helps display the variegated sonic palate of the band, and by the time we arrive at "Foreground," the steady repetition of keys, string accompaniments, and upper-register vocals sound like the coda to an album-length song with different movements. Although each track is capable of standing apart, they're significantly more powerful as a sum of parts.

Opposition is key. People who aren't competitive have never truly reached the height of their potential. Just ask Magic and Bird. Sampras and Agassi. Palmer and Nicklaus. Truly transcendent talents thrive and flourish with a worthy competitor. They painstakingly work on and develop their talents, gradually ascending to the highest levels, seemingly improving when it doesn't seem like improvement is possible (or necessary). And so here we are... Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest receives its proper release. Almost three months after being leaked and six months after the release of Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, we can now truly ring the bell on what will no doubt be a heavyweight fight between the two for the title of "Album of the Year". Did Grizzly Bear craft their album as a response or challenge to Animal Collective? Absolutely not. But regardless of how well Veckatimest stands on its own (and we're talking about British Guard-level standing), it will always be compared to MPP. And (in 2009), Grizzly Bear will always be compared to Animal Collective. Maybe that's a good thing... maybe it's bad. Or maybe we should just be thankful that two incredible albums were released in the same year.

Stream:> Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest