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Instead, Polar Bear feel cast more in the mould of an experimental rock band – a fairly makeshift and mischievous five-man unit, bringing together drummer Sebastian Rochford and tenor saxophonist Pete Wareham (both also of the more fiery Acoustic Ladyland) alongside electronica head Leafcutter John, plus second tenor Mark Lockheart and Tom Herbert, also of The Invisible, on double bass. Peepers, the quintet’s fourth album, sees familiar jazz styles – bebop, cool jazz, free improv – exhumed, tampered with, and gleefully crossbred with little regard for tradition or idiom.
So, Happy For You marshalls perky beat-group guitars and jaunty saxophone, although Rochford’s skittering drums and sudden swells of percussion give things a constant sense of jazzy motion. Drunken Pharoah adopts a stumbling, stop-start rhythm, sometimes halting a half-beat as Leafcutter John conjures all kinds of collapsing electronic sounds out of the ether.
There is abrasion here, but usually it’s employed with a certain tongue-in-cheek – Scream opens with saxophones clucking like angry chickens, and ends 30 seconds later in a single shrill squeal. Just as common, though, are moments of disarming beauty. The Love Didn’t Go Anywhere is subtle and gorgeous, yearning sax lines and quiet whispers of percussion that recall Miles Davis at his more wistful.
This is the sort of patchwork, irreverent treatment to a genre that will see an outfit critically overlooked, or even maligned. Polar Bear, however, have already drummed up plaudits from such a wriggly approach – 2005’s Held on the Tips of Fingers, you will recall, was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize – and Peepers is every bit as good, talented musicians reworking the rulebook with hearts and minds at play. --Louis Pattison
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Customer Reviews
If in any doubt, don't hesitate! Download this album now or buy the CD as soon as possible and enjoy every moment!
PS: Just back from latest gig and happy to confirm this to be up to usual high standards!
I have all Polar Bear albums plus a few live recordings too and they always move me with their depth and beauty. This album is no exception with some really lovely tunes with great beats (Happy For You); some far out improvisation (with psychedelic overtones, e.g. Bump); interesting and experimental atmospheres, induced by electronica and sampling (Want to Belive Everything); and downright brilliant tune writing (the title track). I hope this album will push them more into mainstream consciousness and appreciation, I know they extend their influence beyond the Jazz world already but they deserve to have their music heard by lots more people.
It was only on third play round that the album truly hit home. And the last track? Well I think Robert Wyatt should be contacted and asked to write a vocal over it! Even better, how about a collaboration.
Buy it now and be suprised!
more? Well yes, I will...The tunes are pretty laid back jazzy affairs, heavy on the sax but with a funky... Read more
Note for the Polar Bear virgins out there: its not rock; its not jazz really, but it is more that than anything;... Read more
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