Ed Droste’s behind-the-scenes photos suggested frequent Feist director Patrick Daughters was taking Grizzly Bear to church for “Two Weeks.” True. But the video for the Veckatimest standout (though, some would argue all of it’s a standout) is not what we were expecting. Don’t wanna give too much away, but prepare for a mind explosion. (Sorry, no surprise appearance by Victoria Legrand.)
The band played a short acoustic set for WNYC last night and host David Garland sent us the photos from it that accompany this post. Here’s how “Two Weeks” sounded with piano instead of omnichord:
You can hear the rest (“All We Ask,” “While You Wait for the Others,” “Foreground,” “Dory,” “Too Little Too Late“) at NPR.org.
And there’s a new Black Cab Session performance of “All We Ask” here.
With all this promotional media, you’d think they have a new album out Tuesday or something.
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this reminds me of angela anaconda in the middle of sunday school and a little bit of charlie and the chocolate factory mixed in with ‘my girls’.
in a good way, i think?…
I heard they like beet salad.
I think you’re right. Look at those pearly whites. They are a glow in the dark!
This must be a commercial for a headblowing enhanced dental cream or chewing gum.
What are they using? Stereogum?
i liked horn of plenty, but didn’t care for yellow house and thought they were becoming another boring overhyped band. but this along with the new album totally proved me wrong. this is the album of the year and this video is the coolest fucking music video i’ve seen in a long while.
kids be trippin
Fucking Grizzly Bear. Does anybody else wish this band would just disappear?
Probably Stephen Colbert (the TV personality, not the actual person)
I agree, I feel your pain my friend.
I wish music blogs would stop talking about them so much. I haven’t even heard this yet-t0-be-released album but I was tired of hearing about it back in March.
holy shit. i know it’s early but…worst comment of the year?
I’m with you 100%. This is the only bad review I’ve found of the new Grizzly Bear: http://thedumbingofamerica.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/moraging-bloggersgrizzly-bear/
It’s actually pretty funny because it says their more MOR than experimental. Not sure I agree with the shot they take at Stereogum, but it’s good reading.
THIS IS AWESOME! Patrick Daughters has a great vision. Wow.
They also played Dory and Too Little Too Late on WNYC, just a heads up. And that video is fucking awesome.
Grizzly Bear are really one of those bands that are something special. A standout act and Veckatimest just further verifies. Merriweather Post Pavilion and Veckatimest are two albums that will be pretty hard to top this year.
Where do you find the balls to make such a bold statement? Your bravery knows no bounds.
Why are those two albums always praised together, as a pair? They’re completely different albums by completely different bands, and there’s a lot of room to like one and not the other. Yet I see so many posts on this and other blogs talking about the two of them. I’m not saying Animal Collective and/or Grizzly Bear are over-hyped, but it’s like those are the two albums you have to cite to to have cred in 2009. When I see posts like that, it sometimes seems more like name-dropping than sincere praise to me.
it could have something to do with them being the best albums of the year (although i personally do not think so).
Love the Margaret Keane-style eyes going on here…
nice song, ugly faces, awesome head explosions
They look so stoned. Its nice to see faces like that reciprocated.
Well that was weird… kind of cool though and a great song.
After its enjoyable first half, the reveal of the ‘point’ of the video kept me slamming back an forth between hearty amusement to annoyed and disappointed.
I think this is a great song (with an astounding remix to boot) and ‘Knife’ is a veritable pillar of music video history that’s frivolous to outdo. However, I would love to see Daughter’s treatment page, because I bet it makes no goddamn sense.
i think its based on the premise that this song is so fucking good that itll make your head explode.
Veritable pillar of music video history? Who cares? The music video as a legitimate medium died when N’Sync broke up. That was the last time more than 20,000 people gave a shit about seeing one. How many non-Michael Jackson videos will you remember 20 years from now? Heart-Shaped Box, Blackhole Sun, and that one where the Backstreet Boys are robots? Am I missing any?
Christina Aguilera – ‘Dirrty’, no one will forget that video. What a skank!
does this remind anyone else of the video for ‘black hole sun’??
my head just exploded with joy
Why do people keep hating on Grizzly Bear? You don’t have to love them, like I do, but that doesn’t mea you have to hate on them. I don’t understand why people dislike their music, they’re one of the more creative bands out there.
Wonderful. Like dipping my eyes in neopolitan ice cream.
Easily the most rubbish band alive today.
Just wanna hang out with a cheese salad and a cheese stick and I just wanna hang out on a street, not the best street, just a good street, just wanna chill out to The GrizzB, also known as the Grizzly Bears, and I think I just wanna send my ex-girlfriend an mp3 of “Two Weeks” but replace all the times ed sings “sometimes” with an audio clip of my great grammy saying “Cran-barry ciderrrrrrrrr” so the song would be like, “Would you alllllllwaaaaaays, maybe [hit it great grammy] CRAN-BARRY CIDERRRRRRRRRR, make it easy, take your tiiiiiiiiiime”, and i think by this point my cheese salad and cheese sticks would have melted into a bowl and i would be able to go to town’s general store to buy some tortilla chips to dunk in my bowl of cheese. suck it, velveeta, i got your number.
Whatever drugs you take, quit.
Good comment. Very critical.
Looks like Grizzly Bear has been pulling in overtime down at the nightmare factory.
I love most of Daughters’ videos, and this was no exception. He always finds a way to twist the idea of a performance video a little on its ear, and include something (or in this case, the whole thing) that makes an indelible impression. I STILL don’t know where the hell all of the people go at the end of the 1234 video.
I really love this song. The video is such an appropriate distillation of the Grizzly Bear listening experience.
thats what i feel like when i shoot heroin
Hmmmm…. waiting 4 minutes for one single hat trick. Ok then. Wished there had been something more interesting going on here.
I’m digging the song and I’m probably one of the last virgin ears left around here. Not for long. Tuesday here I come!!!! :D
That was fucking awesome
Amazing. They even managed to fix Ed’s nose in the video.
I saw them live a couple of years ago, and they looked just like that, all creepy-blinking with acid-tone skin. Their heads didn’t explode, but mine did.
Chris Bear should win some creepy vibe award.
His trophy case is already full of Adorable Awards.
two weeks is like motherfucking rabbits ejaculating sunshine
Stupid video. One trick pony to the max.
If your head’s been known to randomly explode, wearing flammable hair spray or gel is probably not a good idea.
One more link: Veckatimest is now streaming at http://www.myspace.com/grizzlybear
OK, resume arguing.
why is their faces and mouths and heads and ears all funny?
made ME smile
….Enormes….
C’mon. Is this the best that could do with this song?
I’m a big fan but this video just feels really underwhelming. This song is all about the layers of harmony and interplay between the voices and instruments and the video…. pretty flat.
This Daughters guy obviously has a a thing for sparklers(I Feel it all Video) and maybe he should have come to the table with something new. 1 2 3 4 was great but this feels like a head exploding rehash of the aforementioned I Feel it All.
Where are the new Gondry’s and Jonze’s? This whole thing lacks imagination. Blowing up Ed Droste’s pretty face is the best that could come up with?
Granted they probably don’t have much of a budget but I think they really could have done something a little more interesting that didn’t take the entire song to come to Fruition.
Again I’m not a hater but this video sucks.
My Girls Video > Two Weeks Video
Hehe I always wanted to do that.
Aight I’m out
verrrry nice. me lieky lotz
I just love watching a bunch of pasty looking dudes sing a pretty awful song. Rock on!
Yeah dude– how did Ed get so pasty?!
i like these guys and their music sounds sincere; but the video does not seem honest. to me anyway
After watching it 4-5 times over the course of the day, I think I love it or something. What’s up, Ed.
Chris Bear’s face at 3:39 made me lol.
don’t ever go to church, not even a little bit
Telling people what to do with no justification? Hmm… sounds familiar…
It’s a joke in relation to the video. Let me guess, you’re a Christian?
THE GRIZ!!!
i absolutely adore grizzly bear. but this video… i am terrified, and disturbed. and confused. but it’s kind of cool at the same time.
Did anyone notice the allusion to a white whale?
Not me.
If it takes my entire life, it will be done.
dudes nose is more hooked than Adrien Brody’s
Really? that’s the best you can do?
Wow, it starts out like a Warhol screen test and then they become spiritual nuclear reactors having a meltdown. Instant classic!!
Love this . Love everything about it. It scares me but I like to be scared. Hootie
i Think that as a audio to visual experience nothing beats my girls in hd
Daniel’s expressions make me uneasy
my girls video sucks it’s like an ipod commercial
Wait, they’re in a church. Is that significant at all? It’s like the holy spirit or something. Their heads are on fire…
If you want to push it, you could go with Pentecost and the “tongues of fire”…
Does that make GB Pentecostal? Hmmm….
I know what they were shooting for with the distorted faces… they come from the same planet as the alien who assists on baby James Kirk’s birth in outer space. Just noticed ’cause I saw the movie today.
good video but didn’t anybody else find this more appropriate and touching and an overall better fit? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cXJkghrysI&feature=player_embedded
i think it just does a better job in matching the fundamental beauty of the song and its uplifting spirit
cool video…but did anyone see the black cab session…. man was that stellar !
Grizzly Bear is a good band, but I’ll never understand Stereogum’s obsession with everything they do. They aren’t the best band around and they probably aren’t even in the top 10. While everyone sits on here and damns every other slow-churning, so-naked it’s like lo-fi, but isn’t quite lo-fi band with stoned out vocals like something from the Pink Floyd from the early 1970s I’ll just scratch my head knowing that within 5 minutes Stereogum will ironically post Grizzly Bear doing the same thing.
Now score me down.
1. It takes momentum to move an object. People are objects. Good television moves people. Denver the Last Dinosaur lacks momentum. Therefore, Denver the Last Dinosaur is not good television.
2. Denver the Last Dinosaur is nostalgic. Virtuous men seek truth in all expression. Nostalgia is barren of truth. Therefore, it is the action of a virtuous man to avoid the diversions offered by nostalgic images. Yours are not the actions of a virtuous man.
-ayn
Irony aside, nostalgia is not void of Truth.
Perfection. This band is consistently great. Video is crazy
these guy are ugly and the music sucks
lame, boring, not enough words to describe the effect this music have on me
ugly kid playing ugly tunes for ugly people i guess that is the trend right now in america
AMERRICA! FUCK YEAH!
This is the best Beach Boys song I’ve heard in years.
pffft ‘honest’, uh so what’s supposed to make a video ‘honest’ anyways?
honesty or not it hit the spot for me
grizzly isn’t the new sound and message I crave. Is any syndicated on line music sight reviewing authentic exciting stuff out there?
P.S. I dug the Beach Boys 30÷ years ago and Grizzly Bear is no Beach Boys
What is this exciting, authentic music that’s better than this? I’d honestly love to hear it, because I can only think of a few things released this year that come close. Please share …
my fav band + my fav vid director= one of my dreams comes true.
That video was bloody awesome! They’re so hyped up, but from I’ve heard so far, the new album is living up to its expectations.
vinyl came in today, and it has gorgeous artwork with it. wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
you guys make fun of Zack Braff….and cannot see the douche-y-ness in something like this????
look, to get attention these days your band name should make some reference to the animal kingdom. animal and bear fulfill this requirement. also your band with an animal kingdom reference name must harmonize on the recorded songs, but must not be able to pull it off live. ever see these bands or hear a live recording? they are the same.
itz funnie 2 C haterz cum on here and shit talk bc they R soooOOooOOo sadddd about their own musak sucking shit and nobdy liking it.
“That Thing” by Lauryn Hill
“Yo, remember back on the boogie when cats used to harmonize like Ohhh”
bad-fucking-ASS. the blond guys face creeped me out the most.
Great song. Really awesome album. However, I think this would have made for a better photograph than a four minute video. Well made though.
I can’t help but think of Still Dre when I hear this song
so they’re robots!
did everyone else know Grizzly Bear was robots?
I love this song, but now everytime I listen to it, I keep seeing their creepy faces in my mind… Not good.
how come they aint got no girls dancin in they video? come on now I want to see some T&A
Well?
I first time I saw this I was absolutely plastered, and I thought it was fucked up. The next morning I was very much sober and it didn’t make anymore sense than it did the night before..
and that’s why I love this video.
why are they recording inside with microphone windscreens? AMATEURS!
They are using windscreens to act as both pop filters and to keep spit off of the microphone. The microphones they are using are condenser microphones which are damaged by spit.
uh yeah…like I said, why are they using WINDSCREENS INDOORS! I know what a pop filter is dbag thanks for the engineering lesson. Obviously they don’t…
Wow, I have to say both this video and the one for Knife just distract from the quality of the music for me. The imagery contrasts too much with the song, tone-wise and lyrically. I have to admit, just now was my first time watching either of these or hearing either song, but I really enjoy the experience more of just listening, without the video.
In other words, video director FAIL!
Grizzly bear will eat you up, america
9.0 on Pitchfork, bitches.
9.0>9.6?
A question that I’m really interested in the readers’ opinions on. Veckatimest is $3.99 on amazon download today. Putting aside actual quality of the music, digital vs. CD, or sound quality issues (though I admit 256kbps is good enough to me): what are your feelings on buying this record at a discount price?
A. It’s a good/cheap way to legitimize my illegal download
B. If it’s on sale, “why bother?” because GB are probably losing they’re royalty as part of the discounted price so it’s not helping them.
C. But buying it will drive it up the charts and get non-GB fans interested.
D. I like it but I won’t pay for it because I’m an asshole that thinks “music should be free”
E. …I’m sure there are many other reasons…
even for one dollar i will not buy this piece of shit!!
that is the beauty of the leak, you don’t have to spend money for overhyped shit like this once you see by yourself that it’s not worth it
I’ve often wondered this myself. The past few weeks though, amazing albums have come up to the sale table on Amazon. Passion Pit’s Manners and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s Self-Titled. I managed to purchase hard copies of CDs for all of last year, but I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t afford it anymore. I support artists through concerts and merchandise, so taking a shortcut on Amazon.com to get their album doesn’t seem to bad.
I guess I’d go with option A.
i bought it for 3.99. because the leaked version i have is horrible quality, and i do think it would be kinda neat to see them in the top 10 next week.
it’s a great album and a great song. that being said, i think the video fits them; it’s enigmatic and a little bit on the weird side (i love the glowing cheeks), but Daniel is absolutely darling.
… I don’t think the video is that amazing. Yeah, it’s distorted and they have a meltdown at the end but I wouldn’t consider it a music video masterpiece. Just another one of those videos. But the music is great. It’s great for a stroll around town.
http://bonafidewithheadphones.blogspot.com/
Cape Cod in the summer at a beach house done in sound…it takes talent and time to REALLY do that…the last period of Steely Dan…airtight.
i’m not high, therefore i cannot enjoy this video without wanting to crawl in a hole and die.
i do love this song, however. harmonies = flawless.
In my dream last night, I hung out with Rossen and Droste in some apartment, we had a jam session and they were chill as fuck.
Conclusion: Two Weeks, you win.
Wow, I’m on my second listen of Veck today … it lives up to the hype – Pitchofrk should have given it higher than a 9
this reminds me of kraftwerk we are the robots video
oh my i’m listening to this all day today, so beautiful. i’m in love.
I’m wondering where they went wrong after “Knife.” That song was amazing, and flat-out gorgeous. I listen to the rest of the album and I was mostly bored. This song is pretty much the same with the boredom. It also has a weird vibe to it where I can already see the dozens of deeply introspective, yet ultimately shallow indie films using this to score their trailers to add “depth.” Probably one of the only indie bands I’ll never understand the hype for. They’re okay, but not orgasm worthy like the rest of the blogosphere seems to think.
amazing record, timeless music.
I checked out the album skeptical. I didn’t really see the need for the hype. I was mostly bored with what they had done in the past. But after listening today, I can’t get some of the songs out of my head. Worth checking out.
Me mum used to serve up a wicked oatmeal. No salt – just oatmeal, but 3 packets of pink death sweetener. God it was good. God I love Grizzly Bear. God I love that video. It’s so friggin’ shit inducing scary that I can hardly take me nap.
Grizzly Bear’s work is genius in spots, and below average in other spots. This video however is kinda mind blowing.
Saw them at the All Points West last year and was very unimpressed live but I’ll give them another shot. Still think I prefer that Department of Eagles record better than the new Grizzly Bear record but “Two Weeks” is the best song.
I hear daft punk is opening for them @ The Cake Shop tonight at midnight.
say what!? i just saw them at sasquatch and they were fucking flawless.
obviously their music isn’t something that caters to a lot of stage presence but isn’t that basically true of any folk band? doesn’t mean that they’re not worth seeing live.
Saw them when they opened for the Books a little bit ago and they blew me away. Would really like to see em’ again sometime. Couple of the other songs I’ve heard from this are kind of boring though. Splash cymbal at end sounds so cheesey recorded, was way better in that live video
Veckatimest > Merriweather Post Pavilion
“Ready, Able” is the my jam
Trippy video. I wonder if this will be half as good as Merriweather Post Pavilion?
i just don’t understand, i mean AC and Grizzly Bear both made great album, then they came up with awful videos. like this one is as shitty as Cursive’s “big bang” video. hope their new one is better