The post-hardcore band Polar Bear Club will be making their way through Soma -- along with Fireworks, Balance & Composure, and Make Do & Mend -- this coming weekend.
Polar Bear Club's latest teaser EP, The View the LIfe, was released in August and has been touted as their best work since their 2006 debut. it turns out that The View the LIfe was only a glimpse. Frontman Jimmy Stadt's grizzly vocals are more Against Me!, Hot Water Music or Gaslight Anthem than what you might expect from a hardcore act from upstate New York.
The band's slow transition into a more mainstream sound has been welcomed by its growing fan base. Despite a matured sound, the one thing that hasn't changed is Polar Bear Club's high-energy live performances. I remember going to Polar Bear Club shows when I was younger and witnessing something totally new and special in the hardcore community. The band's name has been popping up ever since.
Clash Battle Guilt Pride, Polar Bear Club's upcoming full-length -- which is due out Sept. 13th via Bridge Nine -- has been highly anticipated as the follow up to 2009's Chasing Hamburg, with only the teaser EP for fans to digest for the summer. When the Polar Bear Club float through Soma on Sept. 18, it will be on their first headlining tour, recognition much deserved. They've spent the last few years on a heavy touring rotation -- something that has impacted their songwriting in an inevitable way, most notably in their album's name: "Those four words -- clash, battle, guilt, pride -- that's what it's all about," " Stadt said in a post on Bridge Nine. "That's life. It's complicated. It's a struggle. People will disapprove of you when you're doing things that make you happy, and you'll question yourself a lot, too. But those questions are where the interesting stuff happens. That's how you grow."
The band is known for its anthemic rock and punk aesthetic, and its sing-along choruses will surely bode well for a space like Soma's. Come get communal with them this Sunday. You can buy your tickets here.
Nada Alic runs the San Diego-based music blog Friends With Both Arms. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
