Auckland Post-Rock purveyors Sun Bear (not to be confused with Helarctos malayanus) describe their music as “post-gender anti-modernist anarchic values combined with conservative scriptwriters”.
The more green explorer of the Post-Rock genre would perhaps describe Sun Bear’s first offering High Seas a little differently. Perhaps as a psychedelic journey through an aural landscape. Maybe as the Jakob of the future generation. Whichever way you describe the album, you cannot deny Sun Bear are good at what they do.
Sun Bear’s palette is diverse; we are not dealing with a one trick pony. Their various influences show through over the twenty four minute sojourn, at times showcasing their proficiency in the field of progressive shoe-gaze, with and without vocal assistance, and at other times producing the future of contemporary Rock n’ Roll.
Cohesive as a whole, though wholly too short, I look forward to hearing more from the quartet.
I leave you with the words of a fan on an obscure Russian Post-Rock blog: “Крутая группа и крутой альбом.”
You can download and stream the High Seas EP from the aforementioned Russian blog (http://www.esotericmusic.ru/sun-bear-high-seas-2013-ep/) or show your support by downloading it straight from the Sun Bear Bandcamp (http://sunbearnz.bandcamp.com/album/high-seas-ep).