Amid the relentlessly creative song-oriented drumming on Grizzly Bear’s 2017 album, Painted Ruins, the track “Aquarian” stands out as particularly percolating. It’s got the flowing, forward-motion feel of paradiddle-based phrases dancing by in spiraling patterns that might bring to mind a slower, more organic version of drum ’n’ bass. I imagined Chris Bear sitting at his kit and figuring things out precisely, finding exactly where, and where not, to place the little rhythmic curlicues that animate the beat. I sure was wrong about that.
Grizzly Bear’s Chris Bear
It turns out that any name similarities between Grizzly Bear and its drummer are purely coincidental. Musically, the seamless match is more like fate.
