Believe the hype – the much-anticipated follow up to 2007’s Friend EP by artful noodlers Grizzly Bear is a meticulously crafted album with all the jagged peaks and smooth valleys that fully realized records possess.  Nothing about the album feels unfinished, but the slick production doesn’t render the album soulless or cluttered.  Definitely one of the best “Sunday morning records” of the entire year thus far.

There are some truly remarkable songs on this album, songs that transcend the lazy “chamber pop” label that many reviews have slapped on Veckatimest. “Two Weeks” swings the door wide open with a strutting piano driven march and airy vocal harmonies that command attention.  This one isn’t the album opener for nothing.

“All We Ask” starts low and slow, with Daniel Rossen’s trembling vocals largely driving the pace.  The song feels at some moments as though it is headed up a steep hill, before heading softly back into the shallows.

“Fine for Now” is at its best when it departs the verse section – the strumming lead-ins in the bridge, and the isolated vocals that follow.  The
song seizes its way off the stage in a frantic fit of electric guitar throttling that clashes wonderfully with the shimmering acoustic sounds of
most of the song.  Sometimes this record sounds 40 years old, and this song is one of those times – this is a good thing.

“Cheerleader” skulks around a bit at first, before a pulsing vocal choir augments the softly chanted background vocals and the guitar gains an echo. Vocally, this is the most complicated and satisfying song on the record.

“Dory” wouldn’t be counted among the album’s peaks and tends to wander the most off the melodic path that most of the album adheres to, but it is still a well executed tune.  It gets especially bogged down towards the end, as it sounds like two separate ideas trapped in the same track.

“Ready, Able” is gorgeous, opening with a simple guitar churn that gives way to a majestic, lilting waltz with echoing guitar and filtered effects that spin the listener around as if on a carousel.

“About Face” should have been allowed to wander down the path it wanted to in the last 30 seconds of the song for at least another minute, but perhaps this is the fleeting appeal that the band was going for on Veckatimest – expose an idea, and then cover it up before it becomes tired or repetitive.

“While You Wait for the Others” plays the same game in its verse and chorus structure.  When that chorus hits, it’s like an audio sunrise compared to the minimalist verse.

“I Live With You” ebbs and flows, vocals echoing overtop an alternatively sparse and dirge-like, then pounding instrumental juggernaut
underneath.  Definitely one for the headphones, this one threatens to go off the rails towards the end, before subsiding in a calm finish.

“Foreground” benefits from a minimalist composition, as well as the flawlessly assembled vocal harmonies that characterize the entire record.