Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

Grizzly Bear might sound like the name of a metal band, but they're really folksy acoustic indie rock. If you ever watch Adult Swim, you'd probably recognize a few moments from some of their commercials, and that's sometimes a decent encapsulation of their sound - catchy songs that are friendly but often with a slightly strange atmosphere. They can sound very simple and at the same time have complex arrangements, with normal rock instruments, traditional sounds like flutes, and electronic additions. It's a little hard to describe what's appealing about Yellow House, but whatever it is, it's there.

"Easier" starts with some simple atmospherics, adds some piano, and then works its way into a plucked guitar melody and high pitched vocalization accompanying. Drums and other elements are thrown on top, and the sound rounds out into a fully developed, well-chosen first track. Subsequent songs develop in a similar fashion, all sounding cohesive and yet having enough of their own flavor to sustain themselves without ever dragging. There's often a lot of shifts in tempo and sound within single tracks, and the surplus of ideas is quite evident. The closer, "Colorado" lurches into the distance with a resonating, slow drum beat and piano part which segue into and a collection of different instruments and styles with a simple, repeated melancholy chorus of "What now?" Hopefully, the creation of another solid album.