I love it when bands deliver on hype or promise. It was fun in the eighties to see bands like U2, REM, The Cure and Depeche Mode get to a point in their career where they were huge, but they just needed to come up with that one album with a handful of songs that climbed up the charts and took them from popular to superstars, to come up with those right songs at exactly the right time.

It still happens now, but on a much smaller level. Animal Collective and TV On The Radio didn't become superstars, but they were still able to take their signature sounds and find the people who wanted the style with a little less quirk. It's that thrill of watching a band honing their sound to something that you know they love and makes more people see the brilliance of their work.

Grizzly Bear, "While You Wait For the Others" (2009)

find it on Veckatimest

I always liked Grizzly Bear okay, but none of the songs connected with me for longer than the song. But this song's hit was immediate and lasting. The trade off between the swooning leads and the lush harmonies of the backing vocals in the chorus are about as knee-buckling a musical moment as I've had in a long while, and it's only heightened by the middle bit that echoes the chorus's harmonizing with even more decadence, as though the band couldn't resist going back for more, diving all the way in. The stabs of guitar add a perfect sour to the melody's sweet and you end up with one of the most divine songs of the year.

I'll be at the show at the 930 tomorrow (thanks, Christian). Anyone else?

Note: posted late thanks to Friday train riding and Saturday heavy drinking.