Audio Mixers: Gareth Jones ; Gareth Hughes Jones.

One of the most highly anticipated indie-rock releases of 2009, VECKATIMEST finds Grizzly Bear continuing its nearly exponential leaps in creativity and scope from album to album. While the Brooklyn act's second full-length outing, YELLOW HOUSE, garnered considerable acclaim and solidified the quartet's moody and experimental, yet always tuneful, sound, this remarkable record soars confidently to loftier heights, as best evinced on the urgent folk-tinged opener, "Southern Point," and the gorgeous "Two Weeks," which floats along on stunning vocal harmonies and shimmering electronic flourishes. Like its contemporaries Animal Collective and Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear impressively transcends hipster hype to produce songs that grow more intriguing with time, and, with VECKATIMEST, it may have just crafted its own PET SOUNDS.

Rolling Stone (p.73) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[This album] has a sound that is completely its own: an opulent, intimate rumble built on churning acoustic riffs, haunted croons and precise string parts."

Spin (p.86) - "Steeped in Wilco's bittersweet Americana, and adding a Northeastern Gothic twinge, Grizzly Bear sound like they're trying to break your heart."

Entertainment Weekly (p.64) - "The swirling gypsy dazzle of 'Southern Point' and 'Two Weeks,' with its lush Beach Boy melodies and jaunty piano jangle, are genuinely intoxicating." -- Grade: B+

CMJ - "The main clincher of this album is that it scoops you up and sweeps right through you....Gentle harmonies conjure swirls of pinks and tangerines, the vocals of band members are sinewy and lithe..."

Billboard (p.56) - "Even with the generally lo-fi nature of Grizzly Bear's repertoire, the band manages to throw in a couple of rocking guitar riffs in tracks like 'Fine for Now' and 'While You Wait for the Others.'"

Q (Magazine) (p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "These former music students have constructed an album full of intricate songs that subtly changes with each listen....It's a beautiful piece of work."

Pitchfork (Website) - "[C]arefully embellished, stripped bare when applicable, full of the joy of sounds colliding with other sounds....Only four guys so completely serious about music-making could come together to make an album this labor-intensive sound so airy, so natural."

Record Collector (magazine) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Sporting production arrangements that sound simultaneously stripped and complex, this is the Bear's best album to date."