Polarizer
Chicago, IL | Established. Jan 01, 2011
Music
Press
“Chicago Rock band Polarizer revels in creating ethereal synth based atmospheres that serve as a lush backdrop for singer Taylor Brennan’s cryptic and soaring vocals. The band’s sophomore album, The Fall and The Swell, captures the sometimes tumultuous aspects of a romantic relationship. Lyrically the songs are pensive and brooding while the instrumentation is vivid and driving Prog Rock with thick walls of guitar and pulsing rhythm.” - Vocalo.org
“The live show was fantastic. The music was smooth, eclectic. Taylor moves and sings with electric intensity, like a man who is seeing the love of his life walk away and is powerless to bring them back. Like someone who wants to run and is being forced to walk. But don’t mistake their music as laid back. You won’t be able to keep your foot from tapping to the beat.” - Rock In Chicago
Maintaining an interesting balance between heavy, punchy walls of sound and quiet, spacey melodies, Polarizer creates a unique listening experience. - Addicted To Chicago
Discography
- The Fall And The Swell LP, released August 12, 2016
- "In The Floods," "Brilliancy," "Parts From The Whole," and "Collide" digital singles, released November 17-20, 2014
- Lightscapes EP, released June 21, 2013
Photos
Bio
Chicago quintet Polarizer creates what they call “loud, spacey epic rock,” combining heavy walls of sound with echo-laden, introspective passages and progressive-rock sensibilities.
Vocalist Taylor Brennan and keyboardist Stan Tencza, friends since their childhoods in New England, formed the band in 2011 with guitar player Ian Palmer and original drummer Ben Ludwig. The group self-produced a demo and started on the club circuit in Chicago, eventually hitting the road for shows in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, as well as dates at SXSW in Austin, TX.
Polarizer’s first studio release, the 2013 EP “Lightscapes,” was recorded at Chicago’s Rax Trax studios. The EP features a polished, powerful sound with a broad array of sonic textures, augmenting the band’s instrumentation with mandolin, auxiliary percussion, and otherworldly synth effects. Four additional songs from the Rax Trax sessions were released by the band as free digital singles in late 2014.
The group continued to perform in the Chicago area, and started to lay down tracks for what would become their first full-length album. Ludwig departed in 2015, and the remaining members worked in Palmer’s home studio to finish the 11 songs that would make up 2016’s “The Fall and The Swell.” The full-length album further developed the band’s combination of chimey, Pink Floyd-esque textures and monolithic modern rock riffs.
Drummer Johnathan Schiller and bassist Chris Shen, both regulars around the Chicago music scene, joined the lineup shortly before that album’s release. Polarizer opened for national touring act The New Regime (featuring Nine Inch Nails’ Ilan Rubin) in September 2016.
As of early 2018, the band has made preparations to enter the studio to record their 3rd release, with "Lightscapes" producer/engineer Noam Wallenberg at the helm.
Band Members
Links
