AR: Veckatimest

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (2009)*

* - (In the continuing battle to keep these reviews short, I will try to keep this short; do not mistake length-of-review as correlated to quality-of-art).

A critically-lauded end-of-2009 list-topper, Veckatimest is nonetheless an album that splits impressions. The gist: it's a stately chamber-pop disc, full of lush harmonies, strings, and echoey, warm, open-room vibes that scream intimacy with every precise pluck of an acoustic and/or crystal clean electric guitar string. Record-level reverb gives it a cabin-composed vibe, and light, mostly-upper range vocals positively haunt. Horns make appearances, synths add flourishes, and sometimes tinkly-key range pianos drive the rhythms, ones that are universally mid-tempo. It's semi-mysterious, delicate, elegant, and borders on precious; it fits the category in my head called "shimmer" music, standing alongside Bon Iver and Beach House in that loose genre. More than anything, it's exacting, painstakingly composed music that feels more chamber than pop, and more than that, it's calming, delicious songs with evolving patterns and subtleties that lend themselves to repeated listens. And the neatest trick of them all: this is a qualified "pop" in the sense that it's imminently followable yet odd, and it does not earworm like a virus but sinks like a vaguely familiar story that maybe you've heard before.

So why does an album described that way split? Apparently precision in composition treads on grounds clinical, and people have gone so far as to call this "boring" due to its "everything in its right place" nature. And that wispy familiarity that intrigues me causes others to yawn. Strengths are weaknesses, and two sides do not understand one another.

While recognizing that samey-ness to the disc, I do NOT fall in the camp that thinks Veckatimest evokes ennui. I rather think that the smoky aura that surrounds the mellifluous tones dripping from this album creates a desire to grasp at the music, a desire to "get at what they're up to." What I mean is that yes, this album sits like a dream, and other people's dreams - "No one wants to hear," etc. - are among the more boring things in the world. Particularly if they seem crafted and meticulous, edited dreams! But this, one, is organic enough to feel like one's own dream, and two, shifts patterns in a dancing-lights way. Even in its samey serenity, even in that predictable late night nod-off atmosphere, it still plays to your curious child-like wants for bedtime tales. The disc may never pay off those wants and leave you in the still-groggy state, but since when were your dreams supposed to teach you anything?

For all that talk of the vague and faintly recognizable, several tracks on this disc stand out. The opening two, "Southern Point" (a jazzed-out, multi-part folk gem) and "Two Weeks" (the Beach Boys meets Orphan Annie summer bliss piece), pulled off the rare trick of grasping me on first listen (I had marked 4 stars on each before they finished!). "All We Ask" is a parabolically dynamic, stomping, epic melodrama; "Cheerleader" and "Dory" anchor the middle of the album with the poppiest riff and swirling moodiness, respectively; and the collapsing chorus of "While You Wait for Others" slays. "Foreground" closes the album with a surprisingly effective simple piano riff under floating vocals. And those are just the ones I feel like writing down - there are ample beaming moments on here, and nary a misstep; in addition to its emphatically great opening, this disc also meets the top-to-bottom quality measure.

If there is anything resembling a flaw, it is that the disc is so cohesive as to be overly homogeneous. I am struggling to describe the songs to differentiate them as they are largely all mid-tempo numbers that flit about the same instrumentations and dynamics (though again, subtle and delicate as they may be, they are upon-further-inspection varied and more than maintain interest for me). This is primarily an admission that there is something to the above-referenced criticism, and I can see why perhaps an ADHD persuasion may disincline you to sit still with this album long enough to detect the differences. So the gripe is a fair one.

There are also parts that, while no-doubt original, strongly echo inspirations. This is most obvious in the waltz outro of "Fine For Now," which - primarily in splash guitar and vocal delivery - distract me by sounding so much like Jeff Buckley. Other moments evoke Reinhold-era Ben Folds Five (of all things). Minor, minor complaints - while I respect the reaction of impatience that others have, if you have an inkling of an inclination toward intricate music, you'd be crazy not to zombie-follow the paths of the Pitchfork / NPR masses and pick up this beautiful, relax-ed/-ing effort.

For sheer prettiness, Veckatimest deserves its accolades. It pulls the neat trick of being very upfront but somehow blocked by a veil, immediate but complex, all the usual juxtapositions combined with expert craft that render albums great. And it maintains this level for the entire disc; no easy feat. It's a je ne sais quoi issue that keeps this one far from the Island (and really, I didn't even consider that, critically high-ranked as it may be). Gorgeous, yes, but its tendency to fade from memory - yes, like a dream - keeps it out of the pantheon. Still, for an immediate, wrap-yourself-in-ephemeral-glow experience, Grizzly Bear's praise-garnering effort nails it and is not to be missed. It may take a few listens to sink in, but it's well worth the investment.

Status: Recommended

Nyet's Fave: "Two Weeks"