G is for Grizzly Bear

By Sarah

rizzly Bear first came on my radar a few years ago when their album Yellow House came out in 2006, and around that time I caught their live show when they opened for Feist. Great music, great show, and I was impressed. Fast forward to this past May when their third album Veckatimest was released and the brains of hipsters everywhere collectively exploded. Grizzly Bear is getting a ton of attention for this album, and rightly so… it’s very good, and the arrangements are stunning. “Two Weeks” has received decent radio play, and the B side of the second single, “While You Wait For The Others,” features a cover of the song by Doobie Brother, Michael McDonald. I know, WTF, right? But it’s pretty awesome, and McDonald’s voice sheds a whole different light on an already amazing song. Grizzly Bear is definitely an “It” band right now, but it’s well-deserved and worth taking a listening. They've been hard to escape here in Portland, where you can find Veckatimest on constant repeat in most local indie coffee shops. No better way to up your indie hipster cred than to order your medium* soy latte to the sounds of this record.

*Saying 'grande' in a non-Starbucks establishment might get you punched.