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We can speculate as to how their ethos and focus was developed from time spent in the company of other imaginative musicians – it could well be essential to their consistent evolution – but the evidence on Peepers leaves no doubt as to how successful this union of education and expression is.
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Peepers is every bit as good, talented musicians reworking the rulebook with hearts and minds at play.
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An invigorating album, then, and one that says a great deal despite being instrumental the whole way through.
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Rochford's mix of circus-oompah patterns, punchy funk with neatly-spliced jazzy offbeats and encyclopaedic world-rhythm references mean you could listen to this compelling set just for him.
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UncutTheir albums have got better and better since 2005, with saxophonists Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart entering into ever more engaging dialogues while the rhythm sections flail around inventively. Here Leafcutter John, who usually makes odd noises with a sampler, switches to guitar addng a clunky alt-rock feel to tracks. [Mar 2010, p.93]
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MojoThe rest is equally compelling, oscillating between eccentric skronk essays, woozy nocturnes, and harmonic hymns. It's jazz shorn of cliche that demands to be taken on its pigeonhole rebuffing merits. [Mar 2010, p.92]
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Basically, this isn't your father's jazz. But if you have a twisted ear and an adventurous streak, it very well could be yours.
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Four albums in, Polar Bear are clearly trying new things, ensuring that their brand of jazz-punk remains at the forefront of forward-thinking jazz music with an incessant desire to rebel against current trends.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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JacobMar 18, 2010Excellent.