Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, active from 2002. The group is made up of Christopher Bear, Ed Droste, Daniel Rossen and Chris Taylor, and releases music on Warp. Its sound draws on art rock, chamber folk, chamber pop, freak folk, indie folk and indie rock, and it is also associated with indie and experimental music, with elements of folk and lo-fi.

Formation and early recordings

Grizzly Bear begins as the solo project of Edward Droste, who records the debut album Horn of Plenty at home. It is first intended for friends, but it circulates more widely and receives a proper release in 2004 with help from Christopher Bear on drums and vocals. A reissue follows in 2005 with a bonus disc of remixes. That same year, Chris Taylor and Daniel Rossen join the project, turning it into a four-piece band.

Band line-up and sound

Droste handles vocals and guitar, Bear contributes drums and vocals, Taylor works with woodwinds, electronics, engineering and production, and Rossen adds vocals and guitar. The band uses melody and ambience alongside hazy choruses, whistles, piano, banjo and several woodwind instruments. The four-piece format lets the layered sound of Horn of Plenty be performed live.

Albums, EPs and collaborations

The band tours through 2005 and writes new material during that period, much of which later appears on Yellow House. Droste’s early demo recordings are collected on Sorry for the Delay, released in 2006. Later in 2006, Grizzly Bear signs to Warp and releases Yellow House. In 2007, it issues the Friend EP, which includes outtakes, alternate versions and covers by CSS, Band of Horses and Atlas Sound. Members of Dirty Projectors and Beirut also appear on “Alligator” and on the EP’s hidden track.

The band’s third full-length album, Veckatimest, is released in 2009. After extensive touring, the group takes a six-month hiatus before reconvening to record in Marfa, Texas and Cape Cod. This work leads to the fourth full-length album, Shields, released in 2012.