One particularly interesting snippet from my phone conversation with Walter Becker that I wasn't able to get into this week's Steely Dan write-up: When I asked if he heard his influence on contemporary bands, Becker, who's incredibly self-honest and self-aware about such things, answered, "Generally speaking, that just doesn’t happen; people aren’t interested in doing the thing that we were doing back then." Nonetheless, he asked if I had any band in mind, and I volunteered Grizzly Bear.
The similarities are there: Both are New York bands with tricky, ornate arrangements and perfectionist studio tendencies. With it's jazzy undertones, finicky arrangements and harmonic dynamics, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, in particular, has always reminded me of Steely Dan's best album, Aja (that both groups have collaborated with Michael McDonald only further underscored the comparisons).
Becker hadn't heard Grizzly Bear before, but from his computer he quickly queued up Veckatimist's "Two Weeks," and listened to a loud snippet of its swooning, doo-wop vocals for about eight seconds before tendering his verdict: "That's horrible!"
He was more impressed with the next track he queued, though, "While You Wait for the Others." "It's interesting," he said, "More study is needed."
Though dubious, he apparently went back for more. At the end of our conversation, he thanked me for the tip, saying--and yes, this is a direct quote"I'm going to drop science on this Grizzly Bear thing."
