Hearing a band take a giant leap musically from one album to the next is one of the coolest things in music, in my opinion. Listening to Grizzly Bear's Yellow House just days after reviewing Horn of Plenty was a shocking experience because the albums are so incredibly different. After completing my first listen of Yellow House, I finally realized what all the Grizzly Bear hype was about.
After I told him to get this album "immediately" a few days ago, my friend Chris asked me to describe the feeling of the album. I told him that it's like going into an abandoned house and exploring the attic. Yellow House's biggest attraction for me was the haunting tone of the entire album - it almost captures the feelings one has when they are afraid of the dark, except the phantoms they think that they're seeing ultimately end up being just part of their imagination. Yellow House is an invitation to journey a little outside your comfort zone, perhaps to see just what exactly your limitations are.
I was a little disappointed with Horn of Plenty because it was so disconnected and too nonchalant. In contrast, Yellow House finds Grizzly Bear a much more mature and savvy band with all of the songs now making sense. They put out all the stops in this album as far as instruments go, from timpanis to banjos to xylophones and even a glockenspiel. Two songs feature a saxophone section straight from the Addams Family or a Scooby Doo episode that turn the spooky factor up to a whole new level. After Horn of Plenty was a bit too muted and subdued, Grizzly turned up the volume on this album and threw in fermatas and grand pauses just for kicks.
The best song on the album has to be "Knife" (recently named #109 in Pitchfork's top 500 songs of the decade), which is a swirling symphony that finds the perfect balance between purposeful sonic rock and subtle harmony that in my opinion The Flaming Lips still haven't reached. Other highlights include "Little Brother", a nice little singalong for the spookiest of campfires, and "On a Neck, On a Spit", a song which I can't help but think that Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes listened to at least once for inspiration. It ends on a great note with "Colorado", a vast and expansive track that brings to mind the fast moving clouds that end up colliding with the Rockies.
The album's only stumble in my opinion is "Marla", but apparently it is an adaptation of a 1940's song written by guitarist Ed Droste's great aunt so it's hard to really slam on that. Overall, this is a great album which has officially introduced Grizzly Bear into my musical consciousness. I just don't suggest ever listening to it if you're walking alone in the dark.
Score: 4.1/5
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