Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

Genre rock Publisher Warp Records External Links Official Grizzly Bear Website Official Warp Records Website

Old people bother me, and it's not just because of their funny smell. Sweeping generalizations aside, I feel bad for them as they're going through giant changes in their life. As I ponder what to write about Grizzly Bear's excellent Yellow House on this gloomy Saturday afternoon, the old couple across the street from my second floor apartment are moving out, having sold their house days earlier. The younger generations are putting decades worth of memories into the back of a truck, and what doesn't fit the next destination is being double-bagged curbside. Change for those unaccustomed to change must be one hell of a tense situation.

Take for instance Grizzly Bear. Two years after the bands first album Horn of Plenty was recorded in an apartment off a busy Brooklyn street, and after considerable buzz and text fellating comes Yellow House, a polished and more mainstream album that is one of the best albums I've heard this year. Growing up has never been so pleasurable.

As I predicted in one of my first reviews for Static Multimedia, I heard a potential that the band could make a stellar album. Horn got better with each subsequent listen and I regret giving them only two stars … in retrospect it was worth three. Not that it matters, I would just like to get that off of my chest. Oh, and "Disappearing Act" is now one of my favorite songs of all time.

Ok, enough with the revisionist history, Yellow House marks Grizzly Bear's official debut to the mainstream. Much more polished than the first album, House keeps the same lyrical themes and interesting sounds, plus the songs are tighter than their original set. Not as meandering, but still five to six minutes worth of bliss on each track. Fans who have the first album will also notice that the band (musically, at least) sounds happier. The lyrics still straddle the line between "I'm alright" to "my world is crashing down," but the music has fewer minor chords, A7's. So, the music and words are in sync.

"Knife" is the closest thing to a pop song, with "On a Neck, On a Spit" coming in a close second. "Can't you feel the knife" is repeated, hauntingly, and the sparse, cryptic lyrics cause additional listens. A mix of early 60's pop with the original sound of Grizzly creates a great gateway drug to the uninitiated listener. One of Grizzly Bear's calling cards are wonderful vocal harmonies not heard in any of the music today, lending a haunting and psychedelic to every piece of work.

"Neck/Spit" changes direction and keys often, a grandiose cut that, in the right situation, will cause you to close your eyes and roll them back into your head, it's that good. I'm not slighting any of the other songs, they are all above average, but those two will stick in your mind, and not in an annoying way.

So what stopped me from giving this album a perfect four? Well, the strings have me concerned, I think the limits on access to top recording equipment perpetuated the genius of the first Grizzly Bear album. Also, a wrong step could make the band a poor man's Black Heart Procession, and nobody wants that.

Yellow House will put Grizzly Bear on the musical landscape, accolades will follow, and the drive of online buzz about this band will not cease. Expect this album to be in the top ten of any reputable online music zine, and perhaps some dead tree editions. Grizzly Bear accepted their life challenge and did not disappoint. This is one of the best, if not the best, albums of the year.