by Michael J. Foy

With summer upon us, I wanted to take a trip back to those long, hot days when the music I would listen to became burned into my brain. Whether it was hiking in the woods or riding my bike, I found myself listening to this one album on repeat, perfectly capturing the mood and time in my life. Now that I’m older, I find myself still reaching for this one, year after year, with that feeling only more cemented.

What’s the album you ask? Polaris: The Music from “The Adventures of Pete & Pete”.

Technically not a real band, Polaris was comprised of members from the New Haven indie rock band, ‘Miracle Legion’. The twelve tracks created by the band were used for all three seasons of Pete & Pete, not only defining the show itself, but also my childhood. The band even appeared on the show in the episode "Hard Day's Pete”. Young Pete stumbles across them playing the song “Summer Baby” in an old garage. Inspired, Pete decides to form his own band in order to remember the song. The whole episode is a crazy childish adventure, one that reminds the viewer of the magic of childhood and how just about anything seemed possible.

I also remember during the shows run, there was a tape of all the songs from the show you could send away for. One of the offers was even on a cereal box! The music created for that show still strikes me the same today as it did when I was a kid watching Nickelodeon. When I hear the opening of “She is Staggering” or “Waiting for October”, I’m back on the ball field with childhood friends, riding bikes in the summer, or trying to eat all my ice cream before it melted.

It’s incredible to me what feelings this record still brings up, not to mention that as an album, it still holds up incredibly well. No matter how old I grow, when I hop on my bike and put this music on, I’m instantly brought back to a simpler time in my life.

For me, this is not only the soundtrack of the summer, but the entire summer itself.

Favorite Tracks: "She Is Staggering", "Coronado II", "Recently" & "Summerbaby"