Shark & Bear cover a lot of ground on their impressive, 17-minute long EP by sea, by air, by land. Rich, textured, mathy rock flows throughout the three songs, blended smoothly with post-punk and jazz, to create intriguing rhythmic progressions with textured feedback and soothing (yet raw) vocals from guitarist/singer Andrew Wagner. Though the production quality is somewhat low, this seems to fit the overall sound to a T; this is not a record for mainstream audiences, but the mellowish/mathy sound is definitely appealing to those who like their music a bit more complex than the 3-chord progression of modern rock.

Throughout the perfectly constructed cross sections of dissonance and mellow hardcore-esque melodies, Shark & Bear definitely deliver here. Though the guitar solos can be a bit too much at time, this is a strong debut from the Massachusetts-based quartet and an ample indication of a promising future.

-Dave Mandell