Single of the Week: Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again"

There's enough hype out there to tell you that for many Shields is one of the most anticipated records left to come out this year. Even without promotional singles this would be the case, but "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again" prove that Grizzly Bear can craft material deserving of such early praise. The former hinted at a weightier, brasher direction for the notoriously sleepy-sounding quartet. "Yet Again" builds on that blueprint and continues to use the band's usual instrumentation to rock out. It's the loudest song Grizzly Bear have put together, but Ed Droste's usual soft vocals keep the balance between the familiar and the obscure tied down. The final minute of the track is taken up by an unexpected freakout of noise, giving further creedence to the idea of Daniel Rossen as the new indie generation's guitar god. Grizzly Bear are drawing attention with their new songs, regardless of whether their previous albums' greatness made that attention inevitable in the first place.