#31

Grizzly Bear
Yellow House
(Warp)

Most of us know the story by now – used to be an Animal Collective cover band, recorded in a, uh, yellow house that Grandma or Aunt Henrietta or Christian Bale owned (just like the Band at Big Pink!!!), etc. They’re definitely shaking the AC tag – where the Collective has branched out in more tangled and sometimes difficult areas, Grizzly Bear takes a few cues from the Beach Boys’ sonic canvases. Yet we’re not talking trading in one set of influences for another. Naw, Grizzly Bear tackle beautiful sunshine melodies, without sounding trite or whimsical like so much of the wimpy “freak-folk” floating around. Their sepia-toned pop doesn’t recreate the idealistic ‘60s sound, but blows the stale smoke out of the room while echoing the timelessness (doo-wop, surf, chamber pop) with some much needed updates.