Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear came in, and pretty much stayed, like a lamb — an odd, shy and awkward, nerdy lamb. In their defence, some of the songs were new or re-arranged, there were moments of musical synergy and they’ve got a great drummer, but it wasn’t enough. Oooh, dreamy textures and intricate layers! Weird instruments! How about a real fucking song? The experimentation overwhelmed the musical payoff and much of it seemed like small ideas of goodness stretched paper-thin by all the shenanigans. One more plus, however: leader Ed Droste is much larger than you’d imagine.