The bear essentials. Listenable and palpable, quite a strong release from Minus The Bear
It seems that the only thing Minus The Bear had going for them before was the fact they could conjure comical song titles as this new album's hailed as 'not at all just noteworthy for funny song titles.' But that aside, 'Menos el Oso' is quite a palpable ride through a long-playing running time, with some unique sounds and excitements to pick up along the way.
It starts with the juxtaposed 'The Game Needed Me' with speedy hi-hat runs, American brrrm brrrm guitar and big bass, all held down with a Police-like rhythm, also a little electronic wizardry thrown in there for good modern measure. Sort of similar to Prefuse 73's twizzles, but not quite pulled off with same amount of mastery. 'The Fix' is the next particularly grabbing track, with a very strong chorus suited to those who like their emo-esque forceful vocals, this particular band, if they can be linked to such a genre can be seen to be dragging the emo tag out of the useless depths of formulaic trash and into the realms of experimentation and diversity.
They've got the look and to some extent, comparisons in sound to Death Cab For Cutie, it's quite sweet and sugary in terms of vocals, but the rampant drums, staggered guitars and bumping bass give it a harder edge tending towards a watered-down, bubblegum At The Drive-In feel or a Rival Schools style that lingers less in your head afterwards.
There are juicy bits laden every once in a while along this album which stand out at enough points to keep the attention of the average non-genre addict listener occupied and unwavering. 'Hooray' has quite a bumping introduction that leads into some lovely supple chord changes and vocals that sound very nice in all actuality. The bloopy guitar riff made of quick pull-offs and hammer-ons really cements this track as being quite a stand-alone feature on this record, it's a very enjoyable few minutes that takes you back to the great Jimmy Eat World and Rival Schools records. Real sweetness.
It doesn't relent after that, you're bang straight into another track, which chronicles more adventures with drinks and cigarettes and elusive females, 'Fulfil The Dream' continues the trend of good tracks, it escapes in the middle to a world of cleverly memorised syncopated stuff, bordering on Jodan Rudess-esque self-indulgence, no, that is too extreme a comparison, it narrowly misses going too far as a funky insert and retains a kind of cool...
Last few tracks are fine and fair enough, there's definitely a lot of talent and good craftsmanship that goes into pieces like 'The Pig War' and 'This Ain't A Surfin' Movie', as I said before; all very palpable, it's listenable, at times easy to ignore and get distracted from, but without a doubt it's quite pleasant and every now and again there is a really quite good stand-out tune. Doesn't match the records that have been cited throughout this review, but certainly reminds one of them. If you've already got 'Plans' by Death Cab For Cutie, then why not go for this too? You never know you may just dig it...