Grizzly Bear - Yellow House

To assert that 'Yellow House' will propel Grizzly Bear into the homes of music lovers across the board may be wishful thinking but their first outing on Warp Records must be the freshest sound to come out of the New York undergrowth in years. A rosy-cheeked fusing of earnest all-American lo-fi guitar pop and unhampered experimental musical minds presents a record with a rich and assuming songbook. The variances from a sun-drenched west coast vibe into claustrophobic, hushed crevices are remarkably linear, despite their frequency, and a classic propensity for producing an enriching crescendo is almost underused by a band happy for sepia-tinted folksy numbers like Little Brother to take precedence over the Prog thrills of Central & Remote. Chilled out, stirring, challenging and eclectic: Grizzly Bear are not inhibited by genre and neither should their listeners be. [Jamie Borthwick]