Most fans of Grizzly Bear know them for their amazing album Veckatimest (which if you haven't listened to yet, you really should checked out), but I wanted to dive into their debut album, which some may have missed out on. Though it wasn't as widely received, it's still a great listen.
Fans of Grizzly Bear's later work will see this as a more stripped down humble beginning. This psychedelic folk album won't really bring life to your party, but is great to throw on when you are unwinding from your day. The opening song Deep Sea Diver prepares you for the slow melodramatic, yet hypnotizing songs that will proceed. Don't Ask will bring back nostalgia of early Radiohead, while Alligator sounds like a lullaby with the sounds of heavy bass crashing as waves. My favorite song on the A-Side is probably Fix It, which is a bit more playful and has a great outro. Flipping to the B-Side is where the album really shines for me. Merge, A Good Place, and Service Bell are all great songs to listen to, that dive deeper with unique beats and percussion. While this whole album should really be listened to through headphones, you should definitely throw some on for La Duchesse Anne to get the full experience of the vocals. The album ends on high note (figuratively speaking) with This Song, which really shows what is soon to come from Grizzly Bear.
Now, I don't think this album is for all, but if you like early Radiohead or Animal Collective, I think you'd enjoy this album a lot. Another somewhat rare find online (Amazon has it for 73.99 New) and ebay doesn't seem to be much cheaper (again, I was lucky enough to get it for $10 on ebay). But if you stumble upon this at your local record store, I would definitely snatch it up!
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