The Dusty Shelf: Polaris – Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete

[The Dusty Shelf is a weekly column that showcases a tragically overlooked album from the music snob's library.]

No, this is not a joke, and those of you who grew up with the show Pete & Pete already take this write-up as seriously as I do (maybe). Polaris was a one-album band made up of members of Connecticut’s Miracle Legion for Nickelodeon’s popular 90s TV show.  Their music frequented the show’s soundtrack, and the band was even prominently featured in one episode.  But Polaris wasn’t just another cool element from a show with razor-sharp wit and a sense of style to match (guest appearances include Michael Stipe and Iggy Pop, and the soundtrack boasted the likes of the Magnetic Fields and the Apples in Stereo).  Polaris’ music for Pete & Pete is a legitimate indie-pop delight, not just in a nostalgic way (although that certainly plays a part).

I have to admit first-hand that I know nothing about Miracle Legion’s music, but if their discography resembles the work done with Polaris, it’s a downright tragedy they never caught on.  The microburst of Polaris, itself, was all too short.  But the twelve songs found on their lone album are enough to affirm the band’s talent and ingenuity in the field of lost 90s gems.

Of all the songs on Music from for Adventures of Pete & Pete, the opening track, “Hey Sandy”, will probably be the most recognizable, mostly because it was Pete & Pete’s theme song, and with good reason.  One of the album’s best songs, Singer Mark Mulcahy mumbles through “Hey Sandy’s” mostly indecipherable lyrics while the band breezes through a gleeful rocker that sounds like a dive into a big pile of autumn leaves.  Other highlights include the carnival-esque “She is Staggering”, “Waiting For October”, and “Summerbaby”, which enjoys a jangly, Meat Puppets-sounding rhythm section and appropriately smooth singing by Mulcahy. “If you see all I done/When I’m alone I do things nobody knows/Every drop of sex and every little mess I make/I was around” sings Mulcahy over the groove in a ponderous voice – lyrics a bit too cryptic and suggestive for what you might expect from Nickelodeon, something that stood Pete & Pete apart from the crowd.

Like the show it provided the music for, Polaris’ tunes are a bit surreal.  They are definitely 90s alt-rock cuts, but with a blurred sense to them, like staring into a cocktail as you stir it over and over.  That the band appeared and subsequently vanished is almost fitting, adding to the music’s mystery.  There is a lot that’s unexplainable about Polaris, but their music doesn’t have to explained, only enjoyed.  Thankfully, they make that very easy for us.