Something Tells Me That Grizzly Bear Isn’t *Everybody’s* Favorite New York City Band

noah | May 4, 2009 3:00 pm

Dear New York: Please get back to me six months after the promo cycle for Veckatimest has ended so you can test the staying power of your Grizzly Bear profile‘s subhed, which states that the foursome (whose new album comes out next week) is “everybody’s favorite New York band.” Despite the harmony-happy dudes getting ink in both your magazine and The New Yorker this week, I am a wee bit skeptical of this bold (and boldfaced!) assertion. Why? A few reasons! First–and perhaps selfishly–they’re not mine. I count as somebody, right? Second–and perhaps more importantly–there’s an ever-growing world of people out there who don’t work in the media in New York City and who as a result would probably, when asked that question, give you an answer like “The Ramones” or “The Velvet Underground” before vaguely remembering that band they saw on Letterman that one time. Thirdly, you probably aren’t going to make many converts with a profile with details that result in it reading like the latest entry on a blog called Musicians White People Like.* Just take the lede, which centers on a debate over the size of a quail (!) between a band member and a waitress in a Williamsburg (!!) restaurant that hasn’t opened to the public yet (!!!). And then go from there. Anyway, now that I’m done with that, a question for the readers. I’d like to know, and I’m not judging: Who is your favorite New York City band? If it’s Grizzly Bear, that’s OK. But if it’s not, that’s OK too! Grizzly Men [New York] * I won’t even get into the other problems this piece has, like way that the noun “soundscape” is used in the same paragraph as the sentence “The members of Grizzly Bear have never worried about seeming lame, which may be why people think they’re cool,” because then I would just start tearing tufts of my hair out. Too messy, you know?

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