Grumpy Bear -Yield EP
(2019, self-released)
A little more than 15 years ago, I met someone who got something positive out of this thing called the Internet. His name is Þórir, and he’s from a small town in Northern Iceland called Husavik, and when I met him he was a teenager. He knew more about American music, or at least the music I was curious about, bands like Moldy Peaches, Silver Jews, The Brian Jonestown Massacre (which don’t seem to have anything in common, but I feel all are appealing for people used to being nowhere), than anyone I’d met, and he told me he discovered this stuff on the Internet. He traded ideas, learned about ways of expression, etc.
Such a promising future wasted. Not for Þórir. He’s still going. Check out thorirgeorg.bandcamp.com. His material is fantastic.
The Internet has of course been wasted, as has civilization and the notion of communication in general.
However, today for me something positive happened on the Internet. A dude named Lattney B. Jones, a frequent Ball of Wax contributor, reached out with his new EP Yield from his band Grumpy Bear. Given all I’ve read from him, I assumed he lived in Ballard, or possibly my suburb of Shoreline, as he seemed quirky and bookish. Nope . . . Arizona. A dude from Arizona reached out to share art, and I felt like we already knew each other.
The new Grumpy Bear EP is an intelligent, introspective exploration of road music; music for a drive. A signature song, for me, being “Terrence Malick,” which is evocative to me of Malick’s Badlands. (Obviously Badlands is an inspiration for the Springsteen album Nebraska, but Grumpy Bear suggests not the plot but the cinematic feel of the movie.)
When I describe Yield as a proper driving EP, I don’t mean the EP is monotonous. The five songs vary widely, not limited by genre in any way. While Grumpy Bear is proudly self-recorded, it’s not defiantly lo-fi; the centerpiece of the EP, “August/Unturned,” is a robust recording, with well-placed, expressive distorted guitar over a soaring keys, drums and piano arrangement.
I’d also say that while there are only two people identified, Tyler Blake and Lattney B, the feeling of collaboration is clear. Tyler and Lattney double vocals frequently, choruses are natural-sounding. Lyrically, there are no missteps on this EP.
I believe Grumpy Bear, with Yield, have a nice thesis statement on the goals in collections like Ball of Wax—to present unique expressive pieces that spark the mind. Again, for me the standout tracks are the emotive “Terrence Malick” and the more than 16-minute song “August/Unturned” (a collaboration with longtime BoW friend Marc Manning/Everything Is Fine).
For this, I’d say thank you, Internet, and thank you Ball of Wax for getting something out of this cultural plague that now connects the world.