Just about two years ago, Grizzly Bear gave us an advance taste of Yellow House with "On A Neck, On A Spit," initiating a run that has metamorphosed the outfit from an alias for Ed Droste's bedroom sonic collages into a full fledged, four man beast: conquering media outlets, festivals, and small rooms -- and making friends in like every band they've met along the way. And finally, after a banner 700 days, they prepare to go into hibernation to ruminate, to gestate, and eventually to work on the next LP. But not before releasing one more project, full of said friends in like every band they've met along the way. The much publicized Friend EP -- featuring a danced-up "Knife" cover by CSS, ethereal "Knife" homage by Deerhunter's Bradford (as Atlas Sound),a banjofied take on "Plans" by Band Of Horses, and a completely bombastic and frighteningly good re-envisioning of Horn Of Plenty's "Alligator" (with the help of Dirty Projectors and Beirut, as originally heard here) -- finally comes out next week. And it holds more than just some fun covers and alternate takes; like, a hint as to where Grizz's sound is going next. Just listen to "Alligator (Choir Version)." PTW asked if this is what GB would sound like on the Yellow House follow up:
In many ways yes. I think Yellow House didn't fully exemplify our "band sound," and I think we are leaning towards stronger drums and more pronounced instrumentation rather than a gauzy, hazy texture. That said, our recordings will remain layered, and present us always with a struggle with how to exactly perform them live. [That's] always hard, but a lot of fun... I'm hoping the new album will be even more dynamic sonically and perhaps a bit closer to our live sound.
Take the band's hint at what's next as a souvenir.
Grizzly Bear (Feat. Dirty Projectors & Beirut) - "Alligator (Choir Version)" (MP3)
Stream the entire EP at MySpace.
Hopefully you've seen the band do Yellow House stuff live sometime in '06 or '07. As Ed said, it's much more dynamic, nearly different arrangement altogether (Chris Bear shines, the band rocks, etc.). If you haven't, despair not: There are two more chances. Grizzly Bear does the Wordless Music series this Saturday at the Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall. Buy tickets here. If you have a friend at NBC, hit Conan on 11/6; Grizzly is the night's music guest. And if that doesn't work, there's a free performance at Virgin Union Square Megastore at 7PM. Miss all of those and you won't have another chance to see 'em for about a year.
The Friend EP is out 11/5 in the UK and 11/6 in the US via Warp.
[Click Ben Bridwell's beard for large version.]
