Polar Bear Club

Rochester, NY's Polar Bear Club originated in spring 2005 when vocalist Jimmy Stadt and guitarist Chris Browne, each already active in separate local groups, began holding informal jam sessions. They soon started performing live and cut a demo intended for distribution at gigs. Although the roster grew around the pair, the project stayed part-time because all participants maintained jobs or college schedules. Greater permanence arrived with the April 2006 release of the EP The Redder, the Better. The music fused '90s post-hardcore and emo, drawing audible inspiration from Hot Water Music, Lifetime, and Small Brown Bike. Their first full-length, Sometimes Things Just Disappear, appeared in March 2008 on New York City's Red Leader Records and earned favorable notice from punk listeners and fanzines. The album featured Stadt, Browne, guitarist Nate Morris, bassist/vocalist Greg Odom (later succeeded by Erik "Goose" Henning), and drummer Emmett Menke (who had previously replaced Bob O'Neil). The members then committed to the band full-time, touring behind the record alongside the Gaslight Anthem, Crime in Stereo, Broadway Calls, and A Wilhelm Scream. By the close of that year they had joined Bridge Nine Records. Their second album, Chasing Hamburg, emerged in fall 2009 after sessions with producer Matt Bayles (Minus the Bear, Isis). They closed out the year supporting Face to Face and Strike Anywhere on the road.