Fans of New York’s post-punk outfit, Polar Bear Club, or anyone that follows the band in any capacity, likely noticed a severe change in frontman Jimmy Stadt’s vocal approach on their newest album, Death Chorus, which seems to be more of a hot topic than the album itself unfortunately.

Despite rumors of “reverse puberty” (I made that up) and other ridiculous claims, Stadt has decided to let everyone in on the details about why he sounds so different now. It started with him noticing that his vocals began to sound like “really urine soaked, hot, hot, hot garbage” and from there it progressed to him simply not having the ability to sing the way he always had on past releases.

Read Stadt’s full statement after the jump and despite the change in sound, make sure to pick up Death Chorus because it’s still really good!

I’m sure most of you have noticed the change in my voice on the new PBC songs. It seems to be the thing people are talking about the most, so as the release date for “Death Chorus” approaches I thought I should address the thing head on and try to put an end to some of the speculation. Normally, I’d just say “fuck it, let people think what they want.” But this is a little different and people who have supported our band have always been really good to us so in turn, I don’t mind being open with you all.

A couple months back before we recorded “Death Chorus” I noticed my voice starting to change. It was cracking a lot on stage, which I had never experienced before and some of the higher notes in my range were starting to fade. Even when I was singing in the middle of my range it just felt sort of strange and/or uncontrollable and uncomfortable. As tour went on and we approached recording it just got worse, to the point where I couldn’t really sing the way I had been singing since the bands inception in 2005. When I attempted to do so it sounded like garbage, like really urine soaked, hot, hot, hot garbage. I had always been diligent about taking care of myself on tour. Getting lots of rest, drinking a lot of water and warming up before sets so naturally, I was freaked out. I took it upon myself to go to a throat specialist who after a very uncomfortable examination couldn’t find the problem. I didn’t really know what to do from there but carry on, so I did. I decided if my voice was going to be weird I would just go harder with the show and focus my energy on that. I finished the tour I was on and was banking on the couple weeks off before the studio being enough rest to solve the problem.

So here we are, in the studio, the songs are done and it’s time to track some vocals. I go to sing like I always have and…pissy, hot garbage. My voice felt a little better compared to when I was on tour but it had definitely changed. My range was a little lower, my voice was a little cleaner and singing like I used to sing was simply not an ability I possessed anymore. So we tracked the record the way it sounded best and the result is what you’ll hear as “Death Chorus.” Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an excuse or an apology, we in PBC back this record 100 percent including the vocals. If it isn’t your thing then that’s fine, it’s completely fine if you prefer older records to this one! What isn’t fine though is the idea that we’re trying to “get big” or “go mainstream” or “Rise Records changed us” yadda yadda yadda. I feel stupid that I even have to address these completely facile critiques of new PBC. If we wanted to go “mainstream” or get big we’d put out a dub step, Christian metal-core album and call it “Ta$te the Bear” or something like that.

This may seem weird coming from the singer but I feel really comfortable expressing this to all of you because to me, PBC has never been about how the singer sounds. It’s been about the fucking songs, the point of view and being honest and passionate about what you choose to do with your time. It’s also been about the show, which I assure you hasn’t deteriorated in anyway shape or form. I’ve never been an amazing, traditional “singer” per se. I’ve always considered myself to be just a guy who could write lyrics and melodies and then proceeded to fuck them all up by being too excited and moving around too much when said lyrics and melodies are played live. I assure you all, I am that same fuck up. It’s going to sound a little different, sure, there’s nothing I can do about that. However rest assured, it’s the same fucking band and the same show. Thanks for your time, see you on tour.

– Jimmy

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Brian Leak

Editor-In-Chief. King of forgetting drinks in the freezer. Pop culture pack rat. X-Phile. LOST apologist.

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