Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth

Just as ‘Hollywood’ no longer refers solely to a geographical place but an idea or style, ‘Brooklyn’, in music, has become a state of mind rather than a zip code. You don’t have to be born and bred there to ooze hip noughties Brooklyn-ness, as Yeasayer (Baltimore), Animal Collective (likewise), Dirty Projector David Longstreth (Connecticut), and now Bear In Heaven (Alabama and Georgia) testify.

The latter carry shades of each of the aforementioned: the repetitious urgency of Wholehearted Mess echoes Yeasayer; You Do You’s prog-bubbles recall a less eccentric Panda Bear and co.; while the unpredictable structures of several compositions share an affinity with Bitte Orca.

Superficial scene-similarities notwithstanding, Bear In Heaven are, in keeping with the Brooklyn boom’s established tendency, more marked by the inventive way they subvert norms rather than define themselves by them. Yet despite their broad palette and ambling curiosity, they maintain a firm sense of harmony throughout. [Chris Buckle]