Polaris, the Miracle Legion side-project “band that lives in your TV,” is coming back to your turntable with a very special reissue this year.

Music From The Adventures Of Pete & Pete is being reissued this month by frontman Mark Mulcahy’s Mezzotint label, pressed for the first time as a double LP on white vinyl. This “Deluxe 21st Century Edition” will also come with a CD of 15 previously unreleased demos. Series co-creator Will McRobb has penned liner notes, and for the first time, a lyric sheet will be included with the album.

Mulcahy will autograph the first 300 copies, and a T-shirt bundle is also available featuring a new design by Luke Cavagnac. All who pre-order will be entered into a drawing to receive a Polaris prize pack featuring the new vinyl, the album on CD, a band hat, handwritten lyrics and a genuine Petunia tattoo – just like the one Danny Tamberelli sported in the show. Two runners-up will receive a cassingle of the band’s 2014 single “Great Big Happy Moonface” with a label-themed Walkman to play it on.

“Hey smilin’ strange / you’re lookin’ happily deranged…” Unusual words to kick off a TV show for children, but there was little usual about Nickelodeon’s cult hit The Adventures of Pete & Pete, about two identically-named brothers (Michael Maronna and Danny Tamberelli) growing up in a surreal suburb. The airtight teleplays, wistful nostalgic tone and cameos from iconic rockers like Iggy Pop, Michael Stipe, Marshall Crenshaw, Syd Straw and Kate Pierson have helped the show live well beyond its three seasons, airing from 1993 to 1996 (following a smattering of short features and specials on the kids’ channel from 1989 onward).

For the members of Miracle Legion, becoming Polaris couldn’t have come at a more interesting time, following a legal struggle with their collapsing label, Morgan Creek Records, which had put out their 1991 effort Drenched. (Miracle Legion guitarist/co-writer Ray Neal in fact opted out of the request from Pete showrunners McRobb and Chris Viscardi, disillusioned with the Morgan Creek fiasco.) Operating under “TV names” – Mark Mulcahy became “Muggy,” drummer Scott Boutier became “Jersey” and bassist Dave McCaffrey was “Harris Polaris” – the irresistible jangle-pop they created became part of the show’s DNA, from the opening theme song (“Hey Sandy”) to oft-heard tracks within the series (“Waiting For October,” “She Is Staggering”). One notable episode was even built around the tune “Summerbaby,” which younger Pete hears Polaris practicing in a garage and forms a band to recapture his new favorite song. (Straw and Crenshaw, playing a math teacher and a meter reader, respectively, were part of the band.)

Years after Pete and Miracle Legion bade farewell in the mid ’90s, Music From The Adventures Of Pete & Pete was issued – and various Pete & Pete anniversaries and nostalgia have kept the memory of Polaris alive. In 2014, the memories became real again with a new one-off single and tour, ahead of Miracle Legion’s own reunion treks. (Another Polaris go-round was planned this year and will hopefully re-commence when it is safe to do so again.)

Pete & Pete starts shipping September 18 and can be pre-ordered below!

Music From The Adventures Of Pete & Pete: 21st Century Edition (Mezzotint, 2020)

LP: Original album (released as Mezzotint HSV16008-2, 1999)

1. Hey Sandy
2. She Is Staggering
3. Waiting For October
4. Saturnine
5. Everywhere
6. Ivy Boy
7. Summerbaby
8. Coronado II
9. Ashamed Of The Story I Told
10. As Usual
11. Recently
12. The Monster’s Loose

CD: Polaris In The 21st Century! Demos of Space and Time and The Unknown (previously unreleased)

1. The Monster’s Loose
2. Coronado II
3. Holy Holly
4. Waiting For October
5. 21st Century Space Walk
6. Hey Sandy
7. As Usual
8. Ashamed Of The Story I Told
9. Recently
10. Wating For October (Electric Guitar)
11. Saturnine (Instrumental)
12. As Usual (with Drums)
13. Waiting For October (Acoustic Instrumental)
14. Coronado II (Instrumental)
15. Look At That Rocket Go!