Shields

aoty

allmusic

fantano

With Shields, the New York psych folk outfit Grizzly Bear makes a move toward subtlety, toning down some of the bright, poppy moments that made 2009's Veckatimest such a powerhouse.

rollingstone

On their 2009 breakthrough, Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear made the sound of agitation – squirrelly melodies, antsy rhythms, lyrics full of emotional surgery – into music that was lush, genteel and centered. With Shields, they still sound like Radiohead at a Buddhist retreat, but the songs are more muscular, increasingly driven by drummer Christopher Bear's innate […]

pitchfork

Shields is Grizzly Bear's most compositionally adventurous record. Though full of baroque, detail-rich production and latticework melodies, it also offers an emotionally resonant core. The album is an excavation of loneliness, melancholy, and self-reliance.