Needs a little time to wake up.
Grizzly Bear have come up with an interesting take for their ‘Friend’ ep, the twist being that it has ten songs on it, enough for an album these days and three of the songs are cover versions of their songs by other acts. Their friends include the oh so hip CSS and the less famous Band of Horses and Atlas Sound and they’ve also roped in Zach Condon from Beiruit to lend a hand. Given that they also manage a cover of the Crystals ‘He Hit Me’, you wonder how much of the band is in the actual recording but it should also help widen awareness of the band. Let's face it, CSS have probably more fanatical fans than Grizzly Bear have so if it's going to help the band get on a bit, who can blame them for taking this approach, if the music rubbish, all the best friends in the world wont help them.
The cover of ‘He Hit Me’ takes a pretty dark turn, dropping down to funeral procession pace and putting the focus back on the domestic abuse angle as opposed to the glorious pop triumph that the original was. Remember kids, domestic violence shouldn’t be tolerated, not even when it's advocated by such a shimmering pop sensibility but Grizzly Bear have reassembled it so it would be unrecognisable from the original to most listeners.
And the pace or mood is not out of touch with the songs that Grizzly Bear supply on this package, perhaps the current weather is affecting this reviewers take on proceedings but things start to get a bit bogged down and really need a shot in the arm to improve the situation. And just like at many festivals, CSS come riding to the rescue and their electronic twist of the ‘Knife’ jolts the release back to life and giving the listener something to cling to again. It may lack the crowd-pleasing style of their album hits but it’s an understated gem on this record and is deserving of the CSS crowd tracking it down.
The banjo infused cover of ‘Plans’ by Band of Horses continues the more upbeat experimentation and offers some light-hearted relief, perhaps unintentionally but there is something about the sound of redneck music that warms the heart and ears of this reviewer.
The record closes with another original, and although the tempo drops back to minimal levels, it doesn’t feel as bad as it has come after some more sprightly albums and comes across as a pleasing and calming way to end the album.
The major problem with this release is not the songs or the playing but the sequencing, the opening half is loaded with dirge like numbers and if some of the perkier numbers were used to split the mood up, this record could be viewed as an important release to check out but as it stands, it is of curious value only.