Jeremy Enigk
OK Bear
Release Date: May 12, 2009
Genre(s): Rock, Pop
Record label: Redeye
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Album Review: OK Bear by Jeremy Enigk
Fairly Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 7.1/10
The unique power of music is to give meaning to that which has no inherent meaning. A note, on its own, is just a sound. Same with a chord or the smack of a drum stick on a snare. But by organizing those sounds, music can give them incredible power, and it can do the same for words and phrases. OK ….
Based on rating 6/10
Compared to the emo artists with which he is often (and usually inappropariately) grouped, Jeremy Enigk has always displayed more maturity, intelligence, and depth in his music. While bands like Dashboard Confessional and the Promise Ring were reaching their artistic peak with a brand of poppy, punk-inspired rock that expressed relationship woes and adolescent angst in a very literal (and often whiney) manner, Enigk was delving into art-rock, folk, and Americana in order to make sense of issues a bit beyond the general malaise, alienation, and boredom of his peers—and doing so using music and lyrics which displayed greater sophistication and sensitivity than most bands out there. During his decade-long association with Sunny Day Real Estate, Enigk never sacrificed substance for the sake of commercial appeal.
Based on rating 5/10
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.