Search - Jules & Polar Bears :: Fanetiks

An unsung jewel...

Sound/Word Enthusiast | Rhode Island, USA | 01/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first Jules and the Polar Bears album, "Got No Breeding," generally gets the lion's share of the acclaim when one puruses reviews of their two released albums. "Breeding" definitely has all the hallmarks of Jules' genious -- the inverted imagery, the insight, the endlessly melodic songs, the crazy bridges and codas...but I dare say this album sounds sharper in all areas. The melodies in particular have more corners, they seem more refined and direct. The performances steer away from the more classic-rock vibe of "Breeding" into a terse new territory that is informed by new-wave rock but doesn't quite define itself as such. The synths are fantastic -- old analogue things heaving bolds of sound around.



Jules songs more than rise to the occasion -- they are the occasion. And now we get it on CD...with five bonus tracks no less! A very worthwhile investment...their third album, "Bad for Business," which lay unreleased until the mid-90s, may be their masterpiece. Every idiosyncracy hinted at here is explored in full force -- walls of synths, weird distorted vocal choruses, and the existential songs that place love somewhere between ecstacy and paranoia. All the Polar Bears albums are awesome, and it's good to have this one back in print..."

However you say it, a great album

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 02/03/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jules Shear has always been a great songwriter; a spiritual heir to the likes of Alex Chilton or close kin to Aimee Mann, whom he once had a relationship with. But he has also been a style chameleon. "Fenetiks," his second album with the Polar Bears, is the peak of his "new wave" period, and probably one of his best all around.



Not only was Jules firing on all cylinders as a songwriter, his band was playing rock-solidly behind him. The secret weapon here was keyboardist Stephen Hague, who also co-produced. His edgy synths propel the album through some of the most rocking material Jules has ever done. Both the songs "Good Reason" and "You're So Complete" are as good as any of the best the synth happy '80's ever produced. (Hague would grow into a notorious producer, guiding Pet Shop Boys and New Order to some of their greatest successes.)



But the most important aspect of any record Shear is involved in is the writing. (Personal fave from "All Caked Up," "We're like two gods chewing the fat, killing each other about this and that.") On "fenetiks," he's clever, touching and witty. The ballads "Real Enough To Love" and - from the bonus EP tracks - "Alive Alone" share the kind of ache that Jackson Browne hits when at his best. "Alive Alone" has developed into a standard of sorts, with both Ian Matthews and Mickey Thomas (of Starship) taking cracks at it.



Jules made one more chaotic album with the Polar Bears that CBS inexplicably shelved - the ironically titled "Bad For Business" - before going out solo. It's a shame that "fenetiks" has been out of print for so long, as i consider it to be one the eighties' great lost albums. And as his career became more and more introspective and folky, only on two out-of-print Cds (the band project and sole CD from "Restless Sleepers" and his co-effort with Elliot Easton of the Cars, "Change No Change") did he ever invest himself with the frenetic energy of "fenetiks.""

The Polar Peak

tonyscam | Fort Worth, Texas United States | 01/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the adage goes, you have your whole life to write your first album, and six months to write your second. If there's any less quality in the songwriting here, it's damned hard to notice. First of all, it's Jules Shear doing the writing, one of the finest living American songwriters. Secondly, the band arrangements have become much more unique and compelling. The first album, "Got No Breeding", sounds like a bar band performing Jules Shear songs (to be fair, a very tight, well-rehearsed bar band.) It's here that they have truly become Jules And The Polar Bears, a band with its own sound.



The "Laid-Back Classic Rock" groove found on the first album ("Following Every Finger"; "Home Somewhere") is gone, as is the atmosphere of a small club. Here the band is in a God-Almighty STUDIO, and making the most of it! Even on the one ballad (the overlong "Real Enough To Love"), the piano sounds huge. But mostly, Stephen Hague steps away from the piano and Rhodes, to dazzle/annoy us with 80s synth (especially effective is the Saw Wave doubling with Richard Bredice's guitar on tracks like "Brave Enough".)



Special mention must be made of "What Do You Belong To" -- from the creepy beginning of piano bass and clustered, staccatto harmonies, to the whacked-out drums criss-crossing the fade out, this is a particularly strong number. Oh, and don't overlook the tense reggae/ska number "Smell Of Home" -- in their quest for perfection, the band brought in a different bassist to nail this one.



In my review for the third album, "Bad For Business", I suggested that form had overtaken songwriting, and that form was perhaps a bit too free. In this context, "Fanetiks/Phonetics" is the peak moment for Jules And The Polar Bears.



Oh, and by the way, feel free to listen to it very loud . . . you may discover a few little things here and there.



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