The third full-length solo outing from ex-
Sunny Day Real Estate/
Fire Theft frontman
Jeremy Enigk strips away the lush orchestration that made 2006's wildly uneven
World Waits the hi-fi brother to 1996's lo-fi chamber pop masterpiece
Return of the Frog Queen. For the most part,
OK Bear bears the signature marks of its creator.
Enigk's undeniably rich and powerful voice has never sounded better, and his enigmatic lyrics remain resplendent with biblical imagery and magnetic poetry-engineered spiritual vagaries. The album starts off promising with the serpentine "Mind Idea," a sonic sequel of sorts to the
World Waits' gem "Been Here Before," followed by the fuzzy,
Sunny Day-esque "Late of Camera."
OK Bear slows down a bit in the middle, but the electrifying emo-punk/power pop jewel "Life's Too Short" and the gorgeous closer "Sant Feliu de Guixols" will please both longtime fans and newcomers alike. ~ James Christopher Monger