Polar Fever was formed by Vasia Bratchuk and Robert Szulc, who met in 2011 at a Muse gig in Nijmegen (NL). Both were involved in several bands along the way and were living and studying in Eindhoven. Together with bandmates from all over the place they recorded this and released it independently.
According to them they are an art rock band. Yet in my ears there is a lot of more mainstream sound involved. Not that is necessarily a bad thing, in fact, I think a song like She Comes And She Goes could be well received on British radio, since it resembles the days of Blur and Oasis. Yet I think I understand their need to classify beyond that of popular music. Just listen to Overture, with its classical approach and gentle albeit rich mood. And when Muse is a shared influence, combining pop melodies with more elaborate arrangements seems like a logical thing to do.
Yellow Regret is a fine example of that. Again as if the Gallagher brothers decided they want to bring in some of the traditional prog elements into their music. Excellent piano playing by the way. And somehow I cannot stop thinking of that combo. Must be the timbre of the lead singer…
But that takes nothing away from the fact that this album is quite enjoyable. Never too technical or heavy. Just good melodies and hooks. And still never too predictable. You could do much worse. So worth checking if this combination intrigues you!
