Golden Bear

Today's post is one of the most dearest to my heart so far in terms of how important it is to me. Several months ago Golden Bear asked for my friendship on myspace, well with the deluge of friend requests I get from bands I don't always get the chance to take a listen as quickly as I'd like. As a matter of fact sometimes, the name or the biopic are usually all I go on as to whether to check out the site and approve said request or not. I was however definitely intrigued by their myspace photo of the band in what looks like monk's robes in a field, but still it took at least a few weeks before I got around to tracking down the 'Bear and finally listening to their sound. My first listen of them was definitely one of those moments where you hear something that you KNOW you are going to love just from the first chords that reach your ears. This six member group have a sound not unlike My Morning Jacket, maybe mixed with a slightly less weird Flaming Lips (a little, its there, I swear). That might be a bit trite to compare them to, since both Golden Bear and MMJ sort of mine that 70's classic rock vibe. But there's nothing wrong in that at all. In fact, one of the things I love most in music is hearing something that all at once sounds familiar and completely new at the same time. That's the sound that Golden Bear captures. Something based on familiarity but with enough freshness to make even the most jaded of indie hipster raise an eyebrow and rethink previously held notions about what music is cool and what isn't. Golden Bear's bio states "Galactic-Forest Rock", and I don't think there is an easier way to describe their sound. I gotta say with the number of bands today (MMJ, Hockeynight, Grandaddy) mining those arena rock bands of the 70's, it could be the start of an even bigger trend to come in the future. And that's a good thing. Golden Bear's debut full length drops next Tuesday on C-Side Records. Links for getting your own copy can be found there and while you're in a link-clicking mood, Golden Bear could use some more friends on myspace. Here's 3 songs from their self-titled debut.

MP3: Golden Bear - Lady Soul

MP3: Golden Bear - Santa Rosa

And my personal fave song so far from the album:

MP3: Golden Bear - A Reason to be Proud (so highly recommended that for me to say anything just delays your right-clicking and saving this sucker to your desktop so you know exactly where it is for when you load it on your mp3 player so you can listen to it and obess over this song all day and night like I do!)

Their myspace has an additional song that is well worth the trip to Slowspace, I mean myspace. The whole album is also up on C-Side Records for streaming, head over there and preview the album then cruise to the link at the bottom and get your own copy for self-gratification.