Polar Bears are an

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

, USA, who currently play in and around the North Bay music scene. They have toured nationally with longtime friends

The Velvet Teen The Velvet Teen is an American independent rock trio from Sonoma County, California. History The Velvet Teen is originally the name of Judah Nagler's electronic solo project, whose official debut was made during a brief Icelandic tour that beg ...

and have done numerous West Coast tours since their inception in 2001. In March 2004, they released an EP, ''Shorts Are for Warm'', on the

Petaluma Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village nam ...

-based

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, Pandacide. In early 2007, Polar Bears self-released a full-length album, ''The Future King''. Currently, this album is only available directly from the band at their live shows and from The Last Record Store in Santa Rosa. Polar Bears are notable in the Sonoma County music scene for being one of the biggest drawing and intensely furious live bands in the area. Their following has steadily grown, being featured in publications such as the ''North Bay Bohemian'' and ''Metroactive.com''. Bands that Polar Bears have shared the stage with include

Victims Family Victims Family is a hardcore punk band formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California, by bass guitarist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight. Devon VrMeer completed the trio as drummer. Their sound blended Punk rock, punk, Heavy me ...

Cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

Nomeansno Nomeansno (sometimes stylized as NoMeansNo or spelled No Means No) was a Canadian punk rock band formed in Victoria, British Columbia and later relocated to Vancouver. They issued 11 albums, including a collaborative album with Jello Biafra, a ...

The Casket Lottery The Casket Lottery is an American indie rock band from Kansas City, Missouri signed to Second Nature Recordings and Big Scary Monsters. History 1997 The band started in 1997 after Nathan Ellis spent time on the road with Coalesce. He and Stac ...

and

Aloha (band) Aloha is an American indie rock band currently signed to Polyvinyl Records. It features Cale Parks, Matthew Gengler, Tony Cavallario and T.J. Lipple. History Aloha began with Tony and Matthew in the summer of 1997 in Bowling Green, Ohio. One ...

Other projects

Shane Goepel helped start Litany for the Whale with the Sonoma County musicians Richard McKee, Jef Overn and the Bostonian Michael Conrad. Goepel and McKee left the band in 2008. Matthew Izen played in The Velvet Teen from 2007 to 2012. He played guitar in

The New Trust ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

after Michael Richardson left the band. He has also recorded and produced records for bands around the area, most notably The New Trust and

Loma Prieta Loma Prieta (from Spanish ''loma'' -hill, ''prieta'' -dark) is high and is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. Although the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was named for this mountain, the actual epicenter was fi ...

Discography

As 'Polar Bears'

*''Shorts Are for Warm'' - 2004 ( Pandacide) *''The Future King'' - 2007 (Self-released)

As 'The Set Up'

*''Unwritten Tomes and Motor Homes EP'' *''Bats Need Friends''

References

External links

Polar Bears official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polar Bears Punk rock groups from California Indie rock musical groups from California