The Nines are one of a very few reliable power pop artists who’ve produced consistently great music since 1998. Lead by Steve Eggers, over the course of 15 years and 4 full length albums, a few gems tend to slip through the cracks. Polarities gathers these unreleased tracks for public consumption.
The Nines clearly fall in the McCartney/XTC/Ben Folds realm, but the band has its own unique sound and a solid command of melodies and minor chord shifts. The opening track “Anything” is a catchy dance number lead by an ELO styled synth line. Another up-tempo tune is “You Can Get High” with its awesome cascading chord structure in the chorus, although the vocals are slightly buried. The winsome ballads “Goodbye Janine” and “Vanessa” were likely an outtakes from Gran Jukle’s Field. The rolling rhythms of “A Series of Shots” is very similar to Sugarplastic, and the slow guitar strum of “Orange of Summer” is another fantastic ballad. Because each track isn’t related to the others, you’ll find several favorites here. It’s a good thing, too – as this album is chock full of great music to choose from.
