Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks”

Bill Cosby used to open “Fat Albert” by saying “If you’re not careful, you may learn something before it’s done.”

I've recently learned a little local geography.

First let me get out of the way that I know very little about this band. So this is not going to be musically informative.

I got tipped to this song a few weeks ago, by Jen Daunt, who promotes indie bands (and is in one herself). She’d actually called me for advice.

She said that this band Grizzly Bear had named their forthcoming album after an Island off Cape Cod. And she was looking for a pronunciation, because it was a strange looking word.

Veckatimest

I’d never heard of it. I read that it was one of the Elizabeth Islands. Which didn’t make sense to me, because I thought I knew those names. Nonamesset, Uncatena, Naushon, Pasque, Nashawena, Penikese and Cuttyhunk.

I asked around the office, and beyond. Real Islanders, fisherman, cab drivers (who hold all local cultural knowledge). No one had heard of it.

But it turns out, you ride by it, every time you take the Woods Hold ferry.

Veckatimest is a tiny block of land, no more than a couple hundred yards in each direction, connected by bridges so that a vehicle on Nonamesset (the closest Island to Woods Hole) can drive over to Naushon (the next Island in line).

Thanks, Google Maps!

So how a band from Brooklyn knows about an Island that locals haven’t even heard of, I don’t know. And why they named their record after the place is also unclear, though I’m sure it will come out in some interview.

In the meantime, check out the song . . .

Hear Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks”