Grizzly Bear - Horn of Plenty

Genre rock Publisher Kanine Records External Links Official Site Kanine Records

My fortress of solitude for the final, and most in depth, listen to an album up for review is in my bedroom, door closed, TV on mute, and outrageously expensive headphones wrapped around my head for instant music immersion. Getting lost in the music is a hobby of mine, but Grizzly Bear's debut album Horn of Plenty was no match for what drivel presented itself on the television.

The final listen of this album is shared with the deplorable pre-Super Bowl made for TV concert extravaganza. I have no idea what they're saying or singing, but the image of country newcomer Gretchen Wilson and eight guitarists on stage in front of a photo op crowd of white ladies in brand new cowboy hats is one that I'll never wash from my eyes. It was such a travesty to watch. The lack of relevance, the sheer commodity of the event for the hope that a few new people buy your wretched CD. I can only imagine what it sounded like. Referencing the droning low-fi alt-rock of Grizzly Bear to the pop culture train wreck on the screen was by no means easy, but it had to be done.

Brooklyn duo Ed Droste and Christopher Bear attempt to channel the spirit of Syd Barrett into their debut album Horn of Plenty, but rarely is there a direct correlation between their hero and what they attempted to reproduce in their Brooklyn Apartment. The best comparison I can come up with is the Beatles' "Long, Long, Long," but multiply that by 14 and run it through the atmosphere-adder that indie bands typically try to amend to their works. To top it off, it feels like this album is still a work in progress and the songs all fade out or all-out stopped prior to a feeling of closure.

Throughout the disc, songs are accompanied by the low rumble all of us city-folk are accustomed to, giving the feeling that most of the album was recorded under the Brooklyn Bridge. This atmosphere doesn't necessarily add much to the songs' aesthetic overall. The inventive percussion, however, is what ultimately holds the album together.

The most complete track, "Disappearing Act," is also the most consistent. The call and response vocal stylings work in harmony with the distorted bells and guitar riff so well that it's a shame more songs didn't measure up to the same standard. "Showcase" shows promise, but it soon degenerates into a maddening vocal skipping loop and never recovers. In fact, there are a few songs where you may think about hitting your CD player, but just listen for the quietly strummed guitar in the background before you commence to clobbering time.

Obviously there is potential here, and if these guys are inventive enough to record much more than an album worth of material in an apartment, the improvement is sure to come. After all, watching a concert on a muted TV is a little like a song without closure. No matter how well it was planned before hand.