Bearman - Wild Style

Bearman

Wild Style
self-released; 2015

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Bearman is a four-piece band comprised of Rémy (drums/vocals), Matthieu (bass), Quentin (guitar) and Lionel (guitar/keyboard/vocals) from Toulouse, France who recently released Wild Style. The band is all over the place in terms of style experimenting with genres such as blues, reggae, pop and rock to name a few. They don’t take themselves too seriously which leads to fun, unpretentious songs, which are easy to enjoy.

The band gets going with “The Queue” which was a personal favorite and is also a well written rock/pop song. You can hear a bit of Grizzly Bear in there. The vocal melody and guitar progression is good fun and catchy. It's just a solid song from top to bottom and makes sense as a strong opener. 

The next track “Double Six” lies somewhere between indie rock and something you might hear from a jam band. It was an engaging dichotomy that somehow worked well. The funky bass, drums and guitar in the beginning definitely have a jam band vibe. It is further verified with singing that sounds in the same vein. Around a-minute-and-twenty in it transitions into something I wasn’t expecting but was a nice surprise. After that the song gets better as the band slips into a quick section elements of free jazz. 

“Is This Bob?” is in fact a cover of “Is This Love?” by Bob Marley. I don’t know why they wouldn’t credit it as a cover. They do the cover justice but it is still hard to compete with the original. “Rain” was an exceptional tune with intricate, melodic guitar picking and a vocal performance that is heartfelt and more emotional resonate than the previous ones. The band rocks on “TV Screen” but not too hard while “Wild Style” has more of jam band type feel. 

Wild Style is a solid EP with a good variety of songs and notable production. The songs however well delivered feel as if they would be more appreciated in a live setting. Hopefully these guys will play a show by you soon but I would start with listening to Wild Style so you can get an idea of what you are jamming out to.

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