Even though the first track
on the album Shields is noisy AF,
noise is not most often the
Grizzly Bear game. Skilled musicians
leaning into a kind of psych-prog pop,
their arrangements are dense,
the instrumental work is accomplished
and interesting, the drummer plays
beats that are unconventional,
orchestral, and Ed Drost has the
voice of an angry angel. Their music
is dynamic and varied, symphonic,
textured, large, reverb laden,
atmospheric, moody, smart,
sometimes noisy AF, other times quiet,
but most notably melodic–if not lyrically
hooky–these tunes are memorable,
hummable. I could barely sing a single
lyric line, but I can hum along to
every song, even after leaving the
record on the shelf for a decade.
It’s a brilliant album, worthy of repeated
listens, worthy of the kind of attention
we don’t always pay to our rock records.
While not technically progressive,
it’s sophisticated in the way the great
prog records have been sophisticated:
more like Pink Floyd than Rush–
the prog nomenclature comes not
from the chops, but from the more
ornate aspects of the compositions.
Painted Ruins, their last album (hopefully)
not their last), is easier on the ears,
less noisy, a bit more chill, less challenging,
but for some reason, I don’t remember it
as well as I remember Shields.
I’m digging it now for all the same reasons
I dug the previous work. I dig the drummer
on this record in particular, who decides
on these intricate fast-moving patterns
underneath what is otherwise a quiet,
mellow number. And the singing, again,
is terrific, soothing, less angsty here.
One of the great pleasures of this listening
challenge is the rediscovery of records
that I may have neglected when they were new.
I may have been too distracted by other
new records. I may have been in a mood
or an era that was unfriendly to the direction
of this music. I don’t know what it was.
Somewhat shockingly, trying to remember
what the year 2017 was like for me presents
a challenge. One year into Trump’s first term,
I was likely struggling, was somewhat
traumatized, buried in the news of the day,
immersing myself in work so as to convince
myself that things were still somewhat
normal. More attention to this record from
Grizzly Bear might have gone a long way
to helping me cope. Not that it’s a happy sounding
record–it has, like all albums from this band
have, a dark quality to it, a melancholy vibe–
but the quality of the music and of the
performances are nevertheless inspiring,
uplifting, transportive, otherworldly. I needed
them then and I need them even more now.
Grizzly Bear, take me away.
Notes on the vinyl editions:
- Shields, Warp Records, 2012, heavyweight double black vinyl.
- Painted Ruins, RCA Records, 2017, heavyweight double black vinyl.
In case you don’t already know: I’m listening to almost everything in my vinyl collection, A to Z, and writing at least one, sometimes two or three long skinny poem-like-things in response for each artist, and on a few occasions, writing a long skinny poem-like-thing in response to more than one artist. As a poet and a student of poetry, I understand that these things look like poems, but they don’t really sound much like poetry, hence, I call them “poem-like-things.” I’ll admit that they’re just long, skinny essays that veer every now and then into the poetic or lyric.
michael jarmer 