On Buzz; Bear in Heaven

 At some point I got older and more cynical. I don’t know when it happened but I’m guessing it had something to do with settling down and not having to spend days and nights wondering what my future held. I don’t miss those feelings at all but when they left I lost whatever it was that compelled me to seek out the newest buzz bands from the usual sources. Whether it was Pitchfork, Gorilla vs. Bear or Stereogum – I just stopped caring about the flavor of the moment. Hell, when those guys over at Gorilla vs. Bear started their site I’m sure it was thrilling. The next big thing was theirs to break to all the indie kids looking for something they could be the first to know about amongst their friends. But at some point those guys have to have gotten a little older and realized that spazzing over the next band to try to tweak Animal Collective’s sound or turn world music into easily consumable ironic pop wasn’t really very much fun anymore. Reverb and hand claps and you’ve got yourself a tour and a bunch of fans. Congrats.

Bear in Heaven, by name alone, seems like one of those bands. I have heard their name before but I never bothered to listen assuming they were another one of those bands. How narrow-minded of me. I should know better than to write a band off based on what I assume they are. Bear in Heaven are hard to describe and on the whole not easy to digest. I wanted to give them a listen after I saw that they were playing Lollapalooza this year.

They’re a synth-oriented three-piece from Brooklyn and I think they’re experimental enough to ditch the synth pop tag that seems so easy to hang on a band like them. While most of their music is actually pretty dark and brooding it’s the second song on their latest album that stands out to me. Actually I can’t stop listening to it. It’s incredible. The song is ”The Reflection of You” and it’s like the Pet Shop Boys have been reborn and to me that is a very good thing. It’s not often enough that I listen to music that puts me in a good mood so I’m going to embrace this thing with all I’ve got.

I might be late to the bandwagon but that’s not really something I care about anymore. The great thing about music is that your next favorite song might be one recorded 30 years ago, 10 minutes ago or it might be written next year. I’m no longer interested in finding something first – I’m just glad I found it at all. Hopefully I can keep a more open mind as I get ready to start digging into the rest of the Lollapalooza lineup. I’m looking forward to a fun summer.