by: Sun-J
Minus The Hives, The Vines, and The Strokes, lately rock (especially indie-rock) has been breeding bands that seem to bring the same consistent imitated sound to the table. Minus the Bear does not stray far from this trend except for the fact that they step it up a notch or two. If not for the sound aspect, go out and purchase their first full length LP, Highly Refined Pirates for the sheer humor of reading the titles of the tracks on the back of the album. With names like “You Are Not A Football Team,” “I Lost All My Money At The Cockfights,” and “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse,” it’s no wonder that self proclaimed “Britney Stalker,” drummer Erin Tate, doesn’t even know what a signature change is. Fortunately, that is okay. If you’ve never heard a song from Minus the Bear, picture the platonic sonic of today’s average indie-rock band, and try to imagine ridiculous time signature changes with super sugar-catchy hooks, and BAM! You got Minus the Bear. Consisting of four to five members, depeding or not if you consider electronicist/producer/recent keyboardist Matt Bayles a member, Minus the Bear picks up right where they left off from their EP This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic, with feel good music. On “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse,” guitarist Funzo brings some energetic riffs which burst into the pulsating chorus to flow into a colorful blend of pure energy. Variety on this album is also present; “We Are Not A Football Team,” is a dreamy electronic production with odd and hilarious lyrics. “Women We Haven’t Met Yet” is rueful mouthful of witty lyrics and catchy hooks. “Let’s Play Guitar In A Five Guitar Band” instrumentally follows suit with the title, its and ironic mix of electronic, and odd signature guitar measures blended with the usual catchy chorus. This collection of pop-rock tracks and vaguely familiar sounding instrumentation is not the most efficient way of rocking out, but dammit, it gets the job done! And anyway, what else can you expect from a band consitng of a member who runs a pornographic site with his wife?
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