Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear have been making music for nearly ten years and have slowly become indie music’s latest darlings-de-jour. Or to put it another way – music that white people like (not Caucasians – I am borrowing from blogger/author Christian Lander, a recent visitor from the US, who spoke of North Fitzroy being the ‘whitest’ suburb in Melbourne.)

Anyway, back to the review. Last year, we had Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes slugging it out for crossover album of the year. In 2009, it seems may come down to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion and Veckatimest.

Where Fleet Foxes had Crosby Stills Nash & Young as an obvious reference, Grizzly Bear’s influences seem many and varied. From Brian Wilson to Radiohead. Split Enz to Sufjan Stevens. Quite the kitchen sink, then. So if you want to impress people on your social networking site – claim Grizzly Bear as your favourite band. An album unlikely to be heard on radio (excepting our fabulous public radio stations) and that undoubtedly takes some getting into to, but persevere – for there are riches here to enjoy.