The almost impossible task of staying objective in an album review is only further hampered by the short turn around between first hearing a record and deciding on a definitive final judgment. In actuality deciding on the true value of an LP can take months or even years as the oft-used term ‘ageing’ describes.
12 months on from the release of Grizzly Bear’s fourth studio album, Shields: Expanded, allows us to evaluate with greater perspective on the impact of the Brooklyn four-piece’s latest record with a few extra B-sides and remixes thrown in for good measure.
While it’s still feeble to compare Shields to their breakthrough Veckatimest both do considerably well with more time under their belt.
The nuances of Shields becomes further apparent as the technical aspects of these deft craftsman gets considerably easier to appreciate with each spin of the record.
If anything the B-sides here once again prove just how talented Grizzly Bear are as a musical outfit.
While ‘Smothering Green’ doesn’t sit too far apart from its cousins on the original album’s tracklisting, the demo quality of ‘Taken Down’ and ‘Everyone I Know’ and their acoustic strums along with the piano-led ‘Listen and Wait’ sound decidedly more Yellow House.
‘Will Calls’ though is unlike anything the band has ever done before. More so in terms of its ability to be more infectious than ‘Two Weeks’ than its musicality as the song breaks from a nonplussed verse into an earnest chorus.
The Nicolas Jaar and Liars remixes of ‘Sleeping Ute’ and ‘A Simple Answer’ respectively gives outsiders the chance to reimagine the originals and much to their credit they do so without tarnishing the Grizzly Bear brand.
The same cannot be said for Lindstrom’s meddling with ‘Gun-Shy’ though, with the track’s disco beat making for an odd afterthought.
All of these additional inclusions inevitably pale in comparison to the combined brilliance of Shields.
Grizzly Bear are a band that makes albums though and while these tracks are solid on their own there was a reason they didn’t make it onto the original Shields tracklisting.
As their uncompromising vision demonstrates nothing beats an incredible start to finish record like Shields. However fans and admirers alike can appreciate the gifts in the remixes and B-sides on this Expanded edition.
