Peer Validated

Bon Iver is the lastest incarnation of local indie-phenom, Justin Vernon. Definitely his most “out there” stuff to date, Bon Iver focuses on the lonely, dark aspects of living life in the northwoods, maple syrup excluded. This is the record that a lot of people have been waiting for, and with good reason. It’s fucking great.

Most of Bon Iver is peppered with lonesome wails, walls of falsetto that reverberate throughout the songs like some sort of idealized northern wind. Vernon sings probably about 68% of the cd in falsetto, but when he goes to his normal singing voice, it rips through the guitar and bass drum (typically not a full drum set being played on most of the songs) in typical vernonian fashion.

Vernon spent much of last year recording and touring with The Rosebuds. Besides being cred as hell, it really shows in the production of Bon Iver. Where Vernon’s last cd had great tracks on it, it had the digital, tinny sound of a lot of pro-tools recordings. Bon Iver keeps the spacious, warm, and almost analog sound throughout the album. Once again, this is music for the car on long drives, but where Feist’s is a happy trip to the country with friends, Bon Iver could just as easily be played confronting a jilted lover, killing a man that killed said lover, or going to an Explosions in the Sky show.

The cd does have down tracks. Basically, Vernon could have cut this to an amazing 6 song e.p. and left people wanting more. There’s so much to listen to in each individual song, that it could seem daunting to a casual listener, but to Vernon’s credit, he makes a cd that is much like watching baseball. You get out of it what you put in. There’s enough there to satisfy the musical purist AND the kid that just wants to make out a lot, and that’s where the genius lies. In making out.

UPDATE: After going to the Bon Iver show last night. I realized that this isn’t the final track listing/number of tracks on the cd, so the above critique may not hold true after the cd is released. These are all the tracks that are streamed off of myspace.

Vernon is releasing Bon Iver on July 8th at The House of Rock in Eau Claire.

The below track is “Skinny Love”.

Bon Iver - Skinny Love