Minus The Bear
Menos El Oso
Suicide Squeeze (2005)

By: Nicholas Nocketback

Approach With Caution, You Will Play This Album Out

Every so often there’s an album that you simply play far too often. You come to the realization about six consecutive rotations deep that you may be playing it out. “Playing an album out” means that you rock it over and over until you yourself can’t stand it anymore. Some albums take time to do this—Clap Your Hands Say Yeah comes to mind, yet others are instant vintage. This album is poppy, melody driven, and a fresh respite from the monotonous, melodramatic flotsam.
Minus, from Seattle, so you know it’s working, offers an eclectic blend of rhythm, melodic harmony, and aesthetic dissonance. To give you an idea of the appeal, if I were to stuff a five disc CD player with music for the evening—an archaic stereo unit the CD player, I know, but humor me—I’d have Weezer’s blue album, Clap Your Hands, Arcade Fire, Postal Service, and Menos El Oso. Obviously this party would involve one person, a box of wine and a razor blade, but at least the tunes would be slamming.
The Bear boys bring skill and technique together better than a Brooklyn DJ. Jake Snider (vocalist) has expressed in the past that the music is far more than the funny titles and witty banter. He wants people to experience the musicianship and mull over the gifted lyricism. This, of course, is every artist’s plea, but with Minus, it rings true.
Menos El Oso is a far more polished piece—as far as production is concerned—than previous titles “Highly Refined Pirates” and “Bands Like It When You Yell YAR! At Them.” This album exudes professionalism. A few track classics on this piece include number 6: “Pachuca Sunrise,” number 8: “Hooray,” number 9: “Fulfill The Dream,” and the ultimate panty dropper (ladies, men where panties too, don’t scream misogynist) number 10: “The Pig War.” So, when perusing Tower Records—oops, I mean Amazon, play like a mathematician on a hunting trip in Alaska and Minus The Bear.