SOTD #81 // Bear Driver: 'A Thousand Samurais'

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Bear Driver might not be strictly twee, but their acoustic indie complete with mandolins, weird sounds and boy/girl harmonies could almost betray them.

Formed in Leeds, they’ve taken the more gentle and artful approach to song writing. This isn’t your usual moaning about nonsense or worrying about where your teddybear has gone, Bear Driver seem to have a plan to craft something.

Listening to their songs is like watching someone piece together a patchwork quilt – carefully stitching together separate influences, past adventures and voices. ‘A Thousand Samurais’ is a perfect example of this. There’s hints of Broken Social Scene in the ramshackle approach and the slightly fuzzy ending, but it’s all held together, somehow, by the gentle vocals and simple acoustic guitar. It’s hard to fathom what the song’s actually about, but that doesn’t matter. You’re left wondering how it all stays in one place – why doesn’t it fall apart? How can it continue over it’s spare 3 minutes.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Just listen to it and gape at its awesome wonder.

Bear Driver: ‘A Thousand Samurais’