EASE DOWN THE ROAD

 4 Stars

Somehow, when no one was looking, Grizzly Bear became the great hip hope. Maybe it was on their recent tour stint, or possibly in the final sessions for last year’s excellent Yellow House; somewhere, somehow, Grizzly Bear moved past most of their peers. The proof of such comes in the form of their new EP, Friend. Sure, Yellow House was a grand album that built exponentially on the forward-thinking bedroom pop of their 2004 debut, Horn of Plenty, but no one could’ve expected the growth that is this Friend. Looking at the EP’s tracklist, Friend should come off as a loose collection of songs aimed to hold fans over until a new studio album is ready. Quite the contrary. Friend plays through like a short album that far and wide surpasses the sonic highs heard on any of their previous recordings.

A new recording of Horn of Plenty’s “Alligator,” here titled “Alligator (Choir Version),” kicks things off. The song’s saturated arrangement is not only 100 percent different from the original, but the general direction, mood and effect of the song are different. Featuring wunderkind Zach “Beirut” Condon, “Alligator” is a huge production of a song that instantly begs for the band’s placement alongside the Arcade Fire or Radiohead – or whatever your current epic band of choice is. It’s huge, and, more than anything else, it’s the work of a confident band, a band that sounded beautiful finding their way (as heard on the uneven Yellow House) but has now officially arrived.

The EP’s second track, “He Hit Me,” a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin in 1962, is equally grand. Beginning with a slow, subtle arrangement held together by singer Ed Droste’s fragile vocals, the song explodes into an array of countless layers of vocals, guitars and ambiance before falling back into subtle, spooky moods. The song’s arrangement, naturally, is much different than the folk-y original, and – lyrics aside – Grizzly Bear treat the song like it hasn’t been covered a million times over. Clichéd as it is to say, Grizzly Bear make “He Hit Me” their own.

Completing the stunning opening trifecta is an electric version of “Little Brother,” one of the more memorable tracks from Yellow House. Hearing this recording in comparison to the original, more so than anything else on Friend, displays the progression the band has made in just a year. While the original version of the song is still a very good listen, its construction is somewhat awkward and off-putting; that said, the original version did hint at better things to come. Here, on the Friend version, the seeds sprout, and the flowers are much brighter … and louder … and thicker.

A new version of “Shift,” which originally appeared on Horn of Plenty, takes on the hard task of following Friend’s powerhouse openers with grace. Featuring expert harmony arrangements and a subtle-but-full accompaniment of pianos and guitars, the song fades perfectly into the EP’s segue track, “Plans.” Originally a fairly normal song from Yellow House, “Plans” is presented here in a noisy, remixed form. It is – covers aside (more on that later) – the EP’s low point, but generally fits the EP’s mixed-bag framework.

Rounding out Friend’s primary cycle of songs is “Granny Diner,” a new, largely instrumental song that burns slowly. With its lush production, distant electronic tamperings and key and guitar accents, it would’ve been a nice ending to an amazing set of songs, but, instead, Grizzly Bear do something weird. Rather than offering a chaser EP of songs that scream “We found ourselves!” a la Radiohead’s post-Pablo Honey EP, Grizzly Bear treat Friend as a true catchall release, spending the next three tracks on covers of their material by CSS, Band of Horses and Atlas Sound. Listen to the covers all you want; they’re not that bad, but anyone playing this kind of eerie progressive music right now doesn’t stand a chance next to Grizzly Bear. Here’s where your iPod’s edit function comes in handy.Friend’s final two post-cover tracks boast a different temper from the grand stylings of the opening six songs. First is “Deep Blue Sea,” a traditional song presented here in solo (but nicely accented) form by Droste.

If you like Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s Master and Everyone or Nick Drake’s Pink Moon, you’ll probably find much to like here. The EP’s untitled closer, a loud-n-fast untitled song that also features Condon, rips through it’s 90-second playtime like a celebration, almost as if Grizzly Bear know that they’re on their way to being the best band in the world. Fingers crossed, their next release will not just come in a more listener-friendly format than Friend but will continue to see the band build to unpredictable heights.

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