They make boring albums like...
To obtain an idea of how the whole of “They Make Beer Commercials Like…” sounds, please listen to the first twenty seconds. Clean vocals, fine drumming and guitars that don’t irritate. So, that’s good, right?
Wrong.
There’s nothing wrong with this album musically – six songs which don’t offend the ear with vocals that compliment the music. So what’s my problem with this album? Well, I have two. Firstly, this album has no redeeming features. You’ll listen to this maybe five times, then listen to something else and totally forget about Minus the Bear. There’s nothing on this album that pushes the envelope at all – no thinking outside the box on the part of the Seattle pop rockers. The second gripe I have with Minus the Bear is that the sound effects, which I believe are made by keyboardist Matt Bayles, present on the first song are quite simply the most irritating things I’ve ever heard.
According to Minus the Bear’s guitarist Dave Knudson, the new CD “captures the energy from the live show better than any of our previous releases”. It is therefore my belief that Minus the Bear must only play at retirement homes and cemeteries. This album is boring. Thank goodness it’s only twenty minutes long. Yes, that’s right. Twenty. Still, twenty minutes was enough time to cause me to pass out from boredom.
Minus the Bear have the potential to make real pop rock – the sort of stuff bought by thousands of people because they want to enjoy rock without having to wear industrial headphones. The band’s keyboard player, Matt Bayles, is also in both Isis and Mastodon – two bands who really know how to make music. Now he just needs to teach the other four members of Minus the Bear, and we’ll have a great band on our hands.
There’s hope for Minus the Bear – I can sense they have the ability and the drive to make a legendary album. However, “They Make Beer Commercials Like This” is not it.