About Minus The Bear
When the members of Minus the Bear first convened in a dingy practice space in
2001, there were few expectations for the project other than providing a reason for the
five drinking buddies to hang out, have a few laughs, and write some idiosyncratic pop
songs. Seattle had just closed out a decade of living in a cultural spotlight due to their
city’s penchant for loud, earnest, brooding rock music, and the guys in Minus the Bear
seemed to take pleasure in writing songs that were the antithesis to the ‘90s heavyhanded
big-riff gloom. All the members had done their time pedaling angst and
frustration in other music projects, so it seemed to make sense to offset that vitriol with
cerebral pop songs. Their debut EP, This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic, with it’s
nimble guitar work, observational lyrics, complex hooks, and four-on-the-floor dance
beats, proved to be a breath of fresh air in a city that lived under a bank of black clouds
nine months out of the year.
Over the course of the next four years, Minus the Bear demonstrated that they
were more than just some flashy playful indie pop act. Sure, their first full-length album
Highly Refined Pirates still displayed some levity in its aesthetics, as if the band was
one-degree removed from the often overly serious indie rock world, but the frivolous
elements of the band belied their forward-thinking instrumentation, razor-sharp chops,
and forthright lyrical vignettes. Even still, the band were on a mission to shed the
remaining vestiges of their whimsy when they released their sophomore album Menos
el Oso in the late summer of 2005. The lush, intricate two-handed tapping guitar lines
that defined their early work were replaced with glitchy guitar samples and effects pedal
manipulations. The big, boomy room sounds of their previous records were ditched in
favor of air-tight, in-your-face drum tones. Their melodies took a turn toward minor keys.
Even their lyrics seemed to hint that the late night parties and escapes from the city
described on their past records were now tainted by some hard life lessons. Minus the
Bear had always taken their craft seriously, but Menos el Oso was their first record
where the overall tone of the album matched the stern discipline of their musicianship.
It was a bit of a gamble to follow up the buoyant guitar gymnastics of their debut album
with a full-length that throbbed with staccato riffs, sepia-toned lyrics, and an almost
electronic pulse. But it wound up being a pivotal album in Minus the Bear’s trajectory.
Not only did Menos el Oso propel the band to bigger audiences, it set a precedent for
the band’s future fearlessness in exploring new sonic frontiers. To commemorate this
landmark album, Suicide Squeeze is offering a 10-year anniversary vinyl edition of
Menos el Oso. The LP is being repressed in a gatefold jacket with a matte finish and UV
gloss. It includes a printed inner sleeve with expanded liner notes about the creation of
the record provided by longtime friend of the band Brian Cook (Russian Circles, These
Arms Are Snakes) and includes quotes and insights from the members themselves. The
10-year anniversary edition of Menos el Oso has a limited first pressing of three
thousand copies (1k on clear vinyl with a green high melt, 1k on yellow marble, and 1k
on clear). This is the first time the album is available on colored vinyl and the first time
the LP has included a download card. The 10-year anniversary edition of Menos el Oso
will be available worldwide from Suicide Squeeze Records on December 4, 2015.
Minus the Bear is Jake Snider (vocals, guitar), David Knudson (guitar), Cory
Murchy (bass) and Alex Rose (keyboards, saxophone, vocals, programming).
