Grizzly Bear - 'Friend EP'

'Friend' is a collection of new songs and renditions, covers and collaborations that set out to encapsulate the Grizzly Bear sound and ethos. The ‘friend’ in question is a host of friends that Grizzly Bear have met along their heavily toured tracks around the world. The result is never the same, each track an individual tribute to its predecessor; sometimes completely indistinguishable from the original, like with opening track ‘Alligator’ or ‘Knife’ - which gets the dance treatment from Brazilian band CSS.

Grizzly Bear themselves have a very unique sound and passionate set of fans. They hold the same ground as the Flaming Lips, not always in their sound but in their approach to music. Always looking to experiment, to transcend there own sound yet keeping to what makes them so special and unique. A contradiction if you like. With ‘Friends’ they have produced something quite extraordinary, the likes of which you won’t hear this year. Captivating.

The 6 minute ‘Alligator,’ with its choirs and epic finale has been reworked from the minute and a half, Horn Of Plenty original. ‘Shift’ gets back to the folk side of Grizzly Bear. A haunting piano and echo. The song feels like it is recorded in a cave. The whistling that permeates the song and the harmonies are beautiful, haunting, mesmerising. Which sets you up nicely for ‘Plans’ which has been remixed using nothing but sounds. Car horns, recorders, telephones, God knows what sounds they use. It is 2 minutes of sound effects.

The EP drifts and metamporphises itself like a Kafka novel of the same name. It’s stark and rare one minute, uplifting the next and then descends into a nightmare. This is probably the natural order when so many people add thoughts and ideas to a collection of songs. If just one person, one band works on an album there is the unmistakeable fingerprint on it. But then there is the contradiction again as you know it’s a Grizzly Bear record. Their fingerprint is on it.

Although the opening of CSS’ take on ‘Knife,’ sounds like the opening chords of ‘Dakota’ by Stereophonics, it soon takes on the CSS genes. “I want you to know that I would kick your ass, Can you eel the knife?” Not sure if it’s a song about stabbing or if the knife in question is an analogy for something far deeper. CSS give way to Band of Horses. The result is ridiculously different. It’s a hillbilly ode to South America. It has banjos and accapellas.

‘Knife’ is done again by Atlas Sound and is a low-fi spectacle so far removed from the CSS version that you wonder how they could possibly be the same song. The album closes with a home recording of Deep Blue Sea by Daniel Rossen. A lullaby. Comforting.

The EP is a journey through sound. The superlatives too many. Every minute just joyous.

Released 05/11/07 on Warp.