Top 25 Albums Of The Decade (#22)

22) GRIZZLY BEAR – Veckatimest (2009)

So there’s this song called “Cheerleader,” and it’s one of the most disjointed, prettiest songs you will ever hear. In fact, you can basically say that about every other track on the album. This is the sound of the heavenly cherubim going electric, tones that are meant to play out late at night on the backs of your eyelids. I hear Buffalo Springfield in this. Gentle Giant. Robert Wyatt. Harry Nilsson. Yet nothing sounds dated, nothing sounds manufactured, nothing sounds commonplace, blah blah blah. Anyway, that’s part of what makes Grizzly Bear so brilliant—their ability to melt you into color with blissful melodies while at the same time making sure that you’re still somewhat uncomfortable. I admit, I actually sort of hated this on the first listen (much like their fellow Brooklynites Dirty Projectors, whose every song sounds like it’s meant to be played backwards). It was only when I saw the video for “Ready, Able” two months ago that I started to piece together what these guys are up to. It’s hard to believe that they’re becoming so popular—they have a song on the New Moon soundtrack, and have even been covered by Michael McDonald. Yes, Michael “Minute By Minute” God Damn McDonald. Your thirteen-year-old sister or your sixty-year-old aunt, take your pick. But whichever way this thing turns out, I’m on board. Though I have to say that if Veckatimest was some obscure LP from the late 60s, it would probably hold a place in my Top 25 Of All Time. Hipsters ruin everything.