Pulp and Circumstance will declare it here. Veckatimest, the third studio record from indie darlings Grizzly Bear, is most definitely their greatest achievement to date. Most definitely.

And isn’t it the perfect accompaniment for an entire New England holiday weekend; humble blogger finally got around to just straight spinning the follow up to sophomore release, Yellow House, on repeat–and the brilliantly sunny pop derivation the band has taken really owned up.

What’s more, for us Bostonites, it’s clear we need to take extra listen–the album gets its name from a tiny, uninhabitable Cape Cod island, ahem, called Veckatimest.

So for all you kittens who took a weekend trip to the shore…cue the Grizzlies–and cover those campfires and coolers before bed, because the bears certainly come a-knockin’.

But I digress. The record appears to be quite an interesting collection of tunes, with a wafting theme throughout most of the tracks–something P&C has assumed relates to love and people and that untouchable space betwixt. Think of that theme, literally, on glorious tracks like “Two Weeks”, “Fine for Now”, and “Southern Point”. There’s more, too.

Clearly, this album is exactly the recipe needed for humble blogger, since Grizzly Bear’s former foray into pop elements with tunes like “Knife” is definitely a favorite of their collective body of work; and even then, those pop elements, while strong, were shadowed by all sorts of obscurity and strung out bits–lacking in tight melody and a charming vocalplay that make certain pop imbued tracks that much more delicious. Guitarist Ed Droste made no lies when he declared the band was “in a poppy place”.

But make no mistake; those complex compositions remain in the Grizzly repertoire, certainly; and genre-bending still exists, thank you very much, but the focus is on tighter song writing and these absolutely brilliant vocal play.

Plus, there’s Beach House’s Victoria LeGrand to thank on “Two Weeks”, who downright makes my toes curl and my skin tingle with her “ahhs and ahh-awws” and the like. Golf claps, Victoria, golf claps.

So if you’re looking for a downright excellent record that you can wade back and forth through, pick up the new Grizzly Bear record. It won’t disappoint, especially on a holiday.

Checkkkk.

[Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks.]
[Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others.]