Polara are a Minneapolis rock band that is now in it's 11th year of existence. Formed in 1994 by local scenester Ed Ackerson they are a group unafraid to experiment with electronics, straddling the fine line between raging wall-of-sound noise and poptastic melody. Drawing inspiration from Britpop and the shoegazers (and having a singer who reminds me a lot of Roger McGuinn from The Byrds), they've crafted a handful (or two) of records - catchy, scuzzy, shiny rock and pop. The earliest records were released on various indie labels, then they did a brief stint on a major before returning to the indie fold and releasing their records on Susstones, a label started by bandleader Ed Ackerson. They are gearing up to release a new album later this year and have just put out a great little EP called Green Shoes + 4. Teapot Tempest is a catchy rocker with some nice big riffs and cool little electronic noises embellishing it all, and is a pretty good indicator of what this band is all about. There are more mp3s over on the label's website, and if you go do check out some of the other bands - they're all pretty good!
1 comment:
I can't believe these guys are still around! I saw them open for GBV on the Alien Lanes tour at the Lounge Ax for f's sake! They put out an absolutely horrible album a bunch of years ago & disappeared. I hope the second time around is a good journey for them. Their first album (s/t, I believe) has some great moments on them and Ed Ackerson was a guitar god.
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