This is my love letter to all the queer musicians out there, making art and kicking ass. If there's an artist you think I should know about, please let me know, I love new music! (I also reblog/post on general queer and trans stuff, radical news, and instances when the world is fucked, and when it isn't!)
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
So. Grizzly Bear. Lo-fi, indie, hints of folk influence, some 60s psychedelia. Hipster indie darlings for the past couple of years.
Yeah, Grizzly Bear.
When their third album, Veckatimest, came out in 2009, they were everywhere. Everywhere. You couldn’t go on a music blog without seeing a post on them or a review of the album. They did all the talk shows, toured everywhere, and then by 2010 had dropped off the face of the earth to work on new stuff.
Grizzly Bear is a trip. They take a lot of influence from late 60s psychedelic pop and rock like The Mamas and The Papas, The Turtles, The Doors, and Beatles material from that era. There is also a good dose of modern sensibilities as well, especially from groups on the Arts and Crafts label. The vocals are big and chorus laden. The guitars generally have a huge contrast between crisp, clean chords and huge, effects ridden atmospheric parts. There’s a lot of synth and key parts, and drums are often fairly minimal. The sound swirls as more of a mood than distinct parts making up a song. If you listen to a lot of newer indie, this is not an unfamiliar sound. Unfortunately, in the sea of mid-late 2000s indie, they kind of meld into a lot of other acts, making them hard to distinguish from other bands. Although, they do appear to have some staying power and a new album in the works as of this past summer.
Check ‘em out:
http://grizzly-bear.net/
www.myspace.com/grizzlybear
