Grizzly Bear, “Two Weeks”, from the Veckatimest Album, Live on MTVuk

Grizzly Bear, a Brooklyn, New York rock band,  began as a moniker for songwriter Ed Droste’s music in the early 2000s. Regarding the band’s origins as a solo project, Droste noted, “It was just like doing a little home project, and I thought “oh, this is fun, I’m just going to call this stuff Grizzly Bear. […] Our name was actually just a nickname for an old boyfriend of mine.”

Veckatimest was released in May 2009 and was named “after a tiny, uninhabited island on Cape Cod that the band visited and was inspired by, particularly liking its Native American name.” Upon release the album reached No. 8 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and met with widespread critical acclaim.

Compared to Yellow House, the band’s 2009 release, Veckatimest is more of an accessible pop record with traditional and electronic instruments mixed with the use of vocal harmonies . Veckatimest made many Top Album lists for 2009 (#1 Wall Street Journal, No. 6 Pitchfork, No. 6 New York Times, No. 8 Time).