Analysis: Veckatimest

This album is beautiful.  I think this is the first album club pick where I can say this.  I mean, we’ve featured a lot of really good albums, but I don’t know if I’d call any of them beautiful, until now.  Each of the songs on this record is a meticulously created piece of pop perfection.  You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into this album, and it certainly paid off, since all of the songs here are absolutely lovely.  If I had to choose a favourite track, I guess I would probably pick “Two Weeks,” but every song on here is amazing – any one of which could become my new favourite with just a few more listens (except perhaps, “Dory,” which I don’t really care for.)

I must say, despite the insane about of pre-release buzz and exclamations of “best album of the decade!,” I was a little hesitant about the album.  I had been underwhelmed by GB’s last album, Yellow House, even though it too received a lot of good press.  Frankly, I found it boring, and I was afraid that Veckatimest would be boring as well.  But it isn’t.  Grizzly Bear has managed to turn their intricate slow burn melodies into a more interesting collection of songs this time out.  Sure the songs are still slow and intricate, but they seem to have so much more life blossoming under the surface.

One of this albums strengths is what has seemed to become the latest craze in indie rock: harmonized vocals. Three of the most highly praise albums of the last couple of years (this one, Animal Collective, and last year’s Fleet Foxes) employing layered, harmonized vocals, it certainly appears that late 2000 indie rock has moved from the cacophonous intensity of the nineties scene to the more melodic.  All of a sudden the band that everyone wants to be, and every critic wants to name drop is the Beach Boys.  I’m not complaining, and neither is Theresa, since I think it is safe to say that Veckatimest is her favourite album club selection to date.

But what about the question I posed in the introduction?  Which album do I like better, Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear.  Oh, don’t make me choose.  They are both exceptional albums in their own right.  Although I might have overstated their differences a little in the intro post, these albums are quite dissimilar, and not prone to easy comparison.  At this point I think I may be leaning a little towards the AC camp, but this is because that album has grown so much for me during my repeated listens.  So the comparison is a little unfair, since Grizzly Bear has not had as much time to make as deep of an impression on me.  I’ll have to wait until December to see how my year-end list shakes out – honestly, it could go either way.

The bottom line: buy this album.  It is stunning, and I can find little if anything to criticize it for.  Destined to be remembered as one of the greatest of the decade.

Download the track, Two Weeks here.