Customer Reviews

Highly Refined Pirates

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

MINUS THE BEAR - Highly Refined Pirates
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Like many, my introduction to this band was because I heard this guitarist Dave Knudson's new band. (Dave was formerly in a little ol' hardcore band called: Botch)
My initial reaction was shock... Wait! Stop the Presses! This isn't Heavy!
Then I got a grip on myself and actually listened to the CD.... AMAZING!!!
-Honestly if radio stations played music like this I would actually appreciate Pop-Music.

Minus the Bear is filled with amazingly catchy, and skillful, guitar riffs, funktastic bass lines, complex drumming, nice elemental prog-inspired keyboards and a great singer who is also is an amazing lyricist. (See, Get Me Naked: Part II)
They have oodles of talent and are beyond catchy... I ponder my brain everyday wondering why bands like this and Porcupine Tree aren't at the forefront of Mainstream music... and then I remember... Sometimes it is better we keep these gems to real music fans and not companies that will just exploit and ruin them.

Favorite Songs: Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, Thanks For The Killer Game Of Crisco Twister, and Women We Haven't Met Yet
-4.5 Stars


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Yowza this band is good...I saw them with Cursive and they managed to steal the show...no small feat. So anyways...onto the CD. Supercool angular, two hand tapped (but not in metalcore gross style), clean melodic riffing complemented by incredible incredible drum and bass work (sounds heavily influenced by electronica music of all things) with cool lyrics sung by a cooler voice. And a guy that makes ambient noise effects/produces the records. There is no weak point to this band that i can think of. Recommended to fans of indie, pop, hardcore...anything really. Listen to this CD in your car with the windows down!

and it's only gotten better.

happy to say this album has been a part of my life since then.

every once in a while, i hear a band that changes my outlook on music. these guys are one of those bands. they make me feel like music can be something more than it seems. the only band i can think to compare them to at all is braid in their later years, but with crazy tap solos. no, not metal tap solos. imagine if you took a crazy metallica solo and kept the guitars clean and played the tap solo at half-speed during the entire song as melodic accompaniement. it's completely nuts. they sound like a disco-influenced indie rock band. i've not heard anyone that really sounds like them.

Wow; to say that I was totally impressed with this album would be an understatement. Guitars, samples, and vocals all both stimulating and soothing all at once; definitely one of those that you find yourself listening to straight through. Perfect for taking a drive (especially at night) or coming home and falling asleep to (which is a compliment, not an insult). Good mood music. Buy it, it's fun!

This is probably MTB's best CD...even if you are not typically into this genre I highly recommend having a listen. It's great background music; upbeat but not too demanding. I especially recommend this as a first-time album if you have heard of Minus the Bear and are looking to give them a go...MTB definitely has their own style and the best of it comes out in Highly Refined Pirates.

Seriously. Its been so long since I've just listened to a CD in its entirety without interruption and have a smile from ear to ear. I picked this up on a whim when hearing the Seattle group Sharks Keep Moving was on a hiatus and current members were doing this band full time. This was also publicized as one of the three major ex-Botch bands (one of the others being the critically acclaimed rock outfit These Arms Are Snakes, who seem to be catching a lot of hype as well). So naturally I was intrigued by this, and knew I would at least enjoy it somewhat.
Boy was I way off. It was such a wonderful feeling to be caught so off guard, in a positive way for a change! This album is magnificent! Those who've read up on this already have probably already heard the tired and annoying "emo meets prog rock" moniker, which actually are two genres I hate classifying bands under. To me, they just don't seem like proper descriptions...for anything. On that note, its truly hard to pin a specific sound for Minus The Bear. They possess a more upbeat and poppy effect to the orchestral guitar work that was in Sharks Keep Moving, and in certain areas kind of remind me of the brilliant Chicago indie rock stylings of Cap'n Jazz and American Football, only much different. The addition of keyboards definitely adds a slight taste of progressive rock, and the songs as a whole definitely give off the indie/"emo" vibe, but I still wouldn't throw those comparisons around too much, despite them being the only way you could probably describe them to moronic kids that think bands like the Juliana Theory are doing something productive. Annnnnyway, the technical mathy guitar work here is definitely reminiscent of the genius that was Botch, only without the gut wrenching distortion and chaos Botch served up. The lyrics and presentation are also just as witty and sharp as Botch and SKM ever were, possibly with potential to surpass both groups, and hopefully catch the eyes and ears of some mainstream critics and listeners. As a whole, I can honestly admit that Minus the Bear have a sound they can call their own. This is the kind of music that those assclowns in that awful band Coheed and Cambria are trying to do, but just seem to constantly hit a brick wall. If you're looking for something fresh, well-orchestrated, and done right by an all-star cast, look no further than Minus the Bear. By far one of the best new bands of the last few years! Make sure you pick up the EP "This is What I Know About Being Gigantic" as well. Its just as good. Also make sure to check out MTB live when they come around, you will be blown away!
For fans of (but not limited to): American Football, Cap'n Jazz, Owls, Sharks Keep Moving, Botch

I am going to take a risk, and say that this band is better than 90% of everything else that is out there. From the smooth sweet vocal stylings to the lucious polished guitar, and the tightly played drumming and the amazing bassist, this cd is nothing short of breath-taking. The musicianship on it is some of the best in indie rock ever. Several songs are instrumentals, and even still they are top-notch. The lyrics are just as fun as the music...
"And then we all bought yachts and raced up to the islands. Moored them at the docks leading up to our cabins.
We raced up just to slow down, and we drank some, yeah we always do, sunglasses to the water."
I would not hesitate to buy this, and neither should anyone.

These guys remind me of Red Stars Theory, in that most people don't know who they are and they put out unique memorable music that could be a sub-genre of it's own. This album rounds out my favorite albums and while I don't listen to it all the time I definitely go to it when I want something different and soothing. Oddly their lyrics and mostly about girls even though their titles seem to be about everything else. Even when the lyrics are predictable and conventional, the music is always interesting.

Quirky but not obnoxious, melodic and hardly pretentious indie rock is a solid outing of ambitious Incubus-like excursions into soothingly upbeat, passively-aggressive effective pop-rock deviations which keeps the music accessible but challenging at the same time.