Pitchfork

The mighty salmon is often invoked as a symbol of dogged perseverance in the face of adversity, leaping three paces forward for every two the raging river forces it back. This time, however, our model of determination is the mighty Grizzly Bear that will tear that mighty salmon to shreds.

Bouncing back after losing their gear and clothes to nefarious thieves in Brussels, the Grizz have announced their plans tour the shizz out of North America beginning February 1 in Philadelphia. Joining them for a stretch are the consistently exciting Dirty Projectors of New York and, later, San Francisco's Papercuts.

"Thanks to all the everyone who sent their love and support for Dan's Dad [who has cancer] and the theft," wrote Grizzly Bear in a recent e-mail to Pitchfork. "We appreciate the support immensely."

The band dropped by WNYC's "Soundcheck" recently for an interview and performed a pair of Yellow House tunes: "Plans" and "Knife". Hear them chat up the theft setback, tragic tales of ancestors, recording in a yellow house, and loving the choral music of Randall Thompson here.

Our Grizzlies also hit up BBC Radio 1 a short while back. Download an exclusive mp3 of "Colorado" from those sessions by clicking the link below.

Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste, meanwhile, proved himself a soft-rock loving teddy bear in a particularly candid recent interview with Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett, published in Out magazine. Among many, many other revealing tidbits, we learn it's Droste's "deepest, darkest desire" to be Daft Punk. No kidding, ours too man. Ours too.

As previously mentioned, production on Grizzly Bear's "Knife" video is now well underway, with screenshots available to intrigue you here. And finally, speaking of "Knife", Warp Records buddies Born Ruffians (signed to XL in the UK) cover the tune on the mp3 linked below, courtesy of KEXP.

Bear tracks:

02-01 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's *
02-02 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts *
02-03 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse *
02-04 Montreal, Quebec - Main Hall *
02-05 Ottawa, Ontario - Barrymore's Music Hall *
02-06 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace *
02-08 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *#
02-09 Chicago, IL - Subterranean *
02-10 Minneapolis, MN - 7th St. Entry *
02-11 Iowa City, IA - The Picador *
02-13 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
02-14 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
02-16 Seattle, WA - Neumos ^
02-17 Vancouver, British Columbia - Plaza Club ^
02-18 Portland, OR - Mission Theatre ^
02-20 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall ^
02-21 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour ^
02-23 Tucson, AZ - Plush ^
02-24 Marfa, TX - Ballroom Marfa ^
02-26 Norman, OK - Opolis ^
02-27 Dallas, TX - Club Dada ^
02-28 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr. ^
03-01 Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea's ^
03-02 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn ^
03-03 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 ^
03-04 Washington, DC - Black Cat ^
03-06 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom ^

* with Dirty Projectors
# with Akron Family
^ with Papercuts