Off the coast of Massachusetts, between Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard lies the tiny island of Veckatimest. Owned by the Forbes Family (as in quadrillionaire Steve Forbes and former presidential candidate John Forbes Kerry), the tiny island is home to, well, nothing. It’s a completely uninhabited speck in the Elizabeth Islands. It also happens to share it’s name with the new Grizzly Bear album. Veckatimest (the album) is not tiny and definitely not nothing. At times stripped down, at others fully orchestrated, Grizzly Bear’s third album offers not just scenes of sound, but full landscapes.
Ed Droste began the band in his Brooklyn apartment. His homespun D.I.Y. effort took on new life with the help of multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor. Add guitarist/pianist/songwriter Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear on drums and you have Grizzly Bear. Their 2004 debut, Horn of Plenty, began to explore the layering and variety that Veckatimest perfects. Rolling Stone magazine wrote of the first album that "The pure atmospheric power of the songs is more than enough to hypnotize." Their sophomore effort, Yellow House, is their first as a quartet and to feature material written by Rossen. Yellow House is named for Droste's mother's house where it was recorded. The New York Times called it one of the top albums of 2006.
Before listening to the album I took Benjo’s advice and listened to the band’s National Public Radio Studio Session performance, hosted by David Garland. It aired live on the radio and web, but I was at work and only got to listen to the stream later. (Go to NPRmusic.org to hear the one-hour bare-bones performance.)
Everything, even the album art, is narrative. Each song is a mini journey to the next, all set in the big picture of the album. As such, there is an easy flow to the work. The responsibility of album cohesion falls squarely on Chris Taylor’s shoulders. In as much as he produced the record, he admits many things that make the album so ‘comfortable’ are out of his control. “The acoustics in a home add familiarity to the sound,” says Taylor. “Like singing in your bathroom, or playing guitar in your living room- it makes for a comfortable recording process.” Taylor talks about using distance to achieve layers, saying “Bigness, smallness, closeness, distance- someone whispering in your ear versus someone talking further away feels different.”
Incorporating incidental sounds, like a girl’s giggle and an adult’s subsequent ‘shoosh’ as well as the sound of logs crackling in a Cape Cod cabin’s fireplace– all these layers enrich the sound scape of Veckatimest. Expanding upon that theme, the band recorded this album in several sessions at various locations, eventually spending three weeks at The Glen Tonche Estate in the Catskills for final mastering.
Many tracks also feature arrangements by Nico Muhly, a twenty-eight year old contemporary Western classical composer from the grain belt. For some tracks Muhly uses the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Listen for them giggling in ‘I Live With You.’ Ed considers it an Easter egg– “Dan (Rossen) had those samples, he was like ‘ I really want to put those in there.’ They had an amazing way of sweetening things and at the same time totally scaring me.”
It’s not at all scary, though. Says Droste, “It’s just got a few poppier songs, a few darker songs a few stripped-down tracks, and a few really orchestrated lush ones. More dynamics, essentially.”
The work has longevity– songs you don’t get sick of quickly. Each listen reveals more of the layering that you’d barely notice on first listen. It stays interesting because even though there’s a lot to get to know, each track is still easy to recognize. Veckatimest is at once surprising and familiar, a hard feat to master for an album that encompasses a world of sound.
Famous fans of Grizzly Bear include band Band of Horses, who covered a GB song for there 2007 EP Friend. After GB opened for Radiohead in a summer 2008 tour guitarist Jonny Greenwood confessed on stage that they were his ‘favorite band.’ I’m not famous or talented in any notable way, but I find myself so enamored with the band that I’m contemplating how to get to the Saturday, June 13th show at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. Show starts at eight, bring a date. Oh, did I mention TV on the Radio is also playing that gig? Or, just see them both along with a hundred other bands you’ll love at Bonnaroo. The Manchester, Tennessee show runs from the 11th through the 14th of June.
Webphiles, find the band’s 2007 cover of JoJo’s single "Too Little Too Late." The band performed it on Droste's twenty-ninth birthday and on the NPR show I mentioned earlier. It’s proof that even Disney teen idol clone songs can sound haunting if rendered properly. Freebie! Go to Grizzly-bear.net to download 'Cheerleader,' track five on Veckatimest.
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