(Fitzgerald Theater - Oct. 2005; photos courtesy of Steve Cohen)
Well, this is exciting news – Minneapolis noisepop pioneers Polara have risen like the proverbial phoenix and are ready once again to shake up a music scene that sometimes seems moribund and uninspired...on a good day. There's a new Polara album ready to go and it's called Beekeeping. Once again, it's on Susstones and is set to drop on May 6, followed by a CD release party on May 9 at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis with support from The Alarmists and other exciting acts TBD. This is sure to be one of the coolest local gigs of the year; it’s been far too long since Ed Ackerson and his fellow space travelers have set the controls for the heart of the sun and taken lucky audiences along for a thrill ride to the outer limits of imagination.
The last major Polara release was Jetpack Blues in 2002, featuring “Is This It,” a lost hit single if there ever was one and one of the best songs to be released on a local album. Ever. A stop gap EP, “Green Shoes +4,” was released in early 2005 (sadly out of print, but well worth tracking down – the title song was originally destined for Beekeeping and the other 4 songs are uniformly excellent), but other than some rare, albeit memorable, local live shows, the Polara flame has barely been flickering recently.
One of our 60►0 “moles” recently had a chance to spend some time with an advance of Beekeeping and had this to say:
Beekeeping is a masterful achievement in PSYCHEDELIC ROCK. There's a 4 song sequence in the middle of the record that is quite stunning; it's as good as anything Ed has been involved with since he made his first record over 20 years ago. In some ways, this is a companion piece to Ed's recent solo album (they share one song in common, although that’s not immediately evident from the tracklisting), even though they bear few sonic similarities. Beekeeping is teeming with the trademark Polara sound – adventurous, exciting “pysch” excursions featuring always amazing instrumental and vocal contributions, all contained within a concise 3-4 minute pop song framework.
Ackerson’s production on Beekeeping represents new levels of imagination and sheer élan; the entire aural panorama – from tiny details and textures bubbling under to the most epic sonic moments -- is truly something to behold. The very sound of the album just shouts out tour de force. Fans may recognize several of the songs from sporadic live shows over the last few years (“Phase,” “E Flat,” “Talk Me Down”) mixed in with a whole bunch of future classics. There’s even a new “direction” or two thrown in the mix just to keep things interesting. I was also somewhat taken aback by just how prevalent the “rock” element is in many of the songs; at times this thing just smokes. And there is no shortage of hooks, either; several of these songs have “hit” written all over them, whatever that means in this baffling era. All I know is that if I heard the likes of “Talk Me Down,” “E Flat,” “Out of Your Hands” or the frighteningly heavy and catchy “Happy Ending” coming out of my car radio, I’d turn that shit up, hit the gas, and then it turn it up some more. After just a few spins, I’m comfortable in calling this the most consistent batch of winners Ed has ever assembled. It’s very likely that the accumulation of a huge backlog of material in the incubation period since Jetpack Blues has resulted in a treasure trove of outstanding material for this (and other future projects).
With hopefully impending releases coming from the next generation of Minneapolis psych rockers like First Communion Afterparty and Strange Lights, the release now of a killer new Polara album like Beekeeping, comes at a most opportune time. This is all very good news indeed for adventurous music fans far and wide. Fasten your seat belts -- this should be a good ride.
Stay tuned for more details.
