I'll spare you the details on Grizzly Bear's arrival, their path to indie stardom, and all the talk of their "accidental experiment gone right" first album. Wikipedia can catch you up on all that. Instead, I want to get to the matter at hand. Yellow House is an absolutely fantastic record with few flaws and many strengths. The stylistic choices and overall ethos that go into an album like this don't matter. What matters, instead, is the end result.
Let me explain. Overnight success stories bore the hell out of me. Truthfully, there's no real story to them. It's not as if this band overcame grief or has a solid connection to make with me. They were just some talented dudes that put together something cool I liked. Boring, but factual, are the details in which Grizzly Bear makes music. It reflects in their understanding of their project.
Each song is a layered mystery—part Beach Boys, Part Beatles, part Vaudeville—and each note the key to absolutely no greater understanding. No part of this record is intended to clarify anything. The lyrics and cover art tell no grand story. In fact, the number one concern I have with this record is whether or not it sounds good. It does not—it sounds magnificent. Yellow House is a shining example of why sonic masterpieces matter as much as lyrical prowess. There is not a misplaced note or unmeasured harmony. Everything is as it should be. This is an album comfortable as the title and as dramatic as Grizzly Bear should be. At times, the formulaic contentment wears thin. Songs like "Lullaby" and "Knife" roll into one another and the sound becomes almost perfunctory. You expect what comes, but that doesn't make it any less outstanding. Grizzly Bear makes even the mundane sound as bright and necessary as the more unexpected and inimitable "Plans."
The fact is, this is the real debut—the full and shared vision of the band did not exist until this album debuted. In its impartiality lies it's equanimity; it's poise is a by-product in it's blasé demeanor. Easy, smooth, transitional and quirky in the right ways, Yellow House doesn't have to mean anything. The album needs no support or understanding. It doesn't matter if it's good, but it is. It doesn't need to matter, but it does. No amount of lyrical analysis or in depth masquerading for meaning can change that. This album is that good, not to mention that important. The path to the album is unimportant just as long we have the proof that the end result exists. |