Bon Iver
Blood Bank

Review By Chris Drabick

Justin Vernon’s success in 2008 as Bon Iver seemed to be of the overnight variety. Truth is the guy was plugging away for years with his North Carolina-by-way-of-Wisconsin band DeYarmond Edison. Vernon’s debut as Bon Iver, the superlative For Emma, Forever Ago, was marked by his haunted and haunting falsetto. Vernon used his fragile upper register to effectively evoke his fragile psyche and wounded sense of self. It made Emma a singularly poignant record, and the album’s place on a hefty number of 2008 best-of lists is testament to its power.

In contrast, Vernon with DeYarmond Edison wasn’t the same cat as you may now know. Most notably, Vernon sounds like a different vocalist entirely; there’s almost no trace of his For Emma falsetto. If we can glean any hints of what to expect from the next Bon Iver full-length from the stop-gap Blood Bank EP, perhaps the title track’s combination of Bon Iver musicality and DeYarmond vocal style is the answer. That new number is the definite standout here, as the other three tracks seem like either leftovers or unfinished sketches (the vocoder acappella of “Woods” becomes particularly grating). As a look into the future, the title track is nearly worth the price of admission; unfortunately there isn’t enough heft to the remainder to make the whole affair worthwhile.