Customer Reviews

Menos El Oso

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lets see . . . I learned about Minus the Bear about a year ago, hearing about their first CD Highly Refined Pirates. My older cousin, who is now in college, gave my brother the CD to listen to. Well, I listened to it about 6 months to a year later, But it was a great CD. So, I looked on amazon and other places, and found this CD, Menos El Olso

Menos El Olso succeeds in ways Highly Refined Pirates didn't even touch. The sound is fresher, and sticks in your mind well after you've listened to it (It's like when you sing to yourself, and everyone around you asks, who the hell is that?) They do away with the little 50 second songs that get real annoying in the first album, and build more solid music. The overall effect is pleasent,and creates an album you can listen to constantly without wearing it out.

However, the elimination of the same short 50 second songs like "You Kill Bugs Good Man" and "Damn Bugs Whaked Him, Johnny" leaves the album with sort of repetative feel. Also while some songs are classic, like "Hooray" and "The Game Needed Me" some leave something to be desired, Especially the last two, "The Pig Wars" and "This Aint a Surfing Movie".While Menos El Olso may be the best Minus The Bear album yet, it just a bit more of the same that made their first album so good.

Oh . . . and I'm also going to see Minus the Bear in Febuary in Shibuya. I Can't freakin' wait untill then. It's gonna be great

There's a big riff among a lot of MTB fans as to whether or not this album is superior, lacking, or equal to the band's previous effort, "Highly Refined Pirates". In my opinion, "Menos el Oso" takes what "Pirates" had and goes the extra mile, making a much more full and directed effort.

I truly believe that this is a "summertime" album. Just try playing it on a road trip during the summer, or while you're at the beach, lake, etc. It's an amazing album to listen to with friends and gets you in that zen place that's full of no worries. I'm even playing this album on my iPod at my job and it's just keeps me in an awesome mood everytime.

The difference on "Menos" is that the guys sound like they have a lot more direction this time around, which gives them a more definitive sound. Yes, the fun and silliness of "Pirates" is still there, but MTB definitely matured on this album by implementing stronger grooves, smart (while tongue-in-cheek as well) lyrics and experimenting with different sounds. One can see the beginnings of where they'd go with "Planet of Ice" on this album, but those Pink Floyd-esque sounds aren't very prominent on this album.

All the songs are great on this album, no filler whatsoever. But specific gems on this album (if you're going to introduce anyone to MTB) include:
"Memphis & 53rd"
"The Fix"
"El Torrente"
"Pachuca Sunrise"
"The Pig War"

If you're looking for a band that's different, smart and fulfilling, check out this band, and check out this album. It's a killer.

When you listen to Minus the Bear, there's a certain sound you expect to hear. That smart, quirky, bleep bloop rock. Finger taps and hot dance beats mixed with electronica and non abrasive vocals. My friend travis would argue that Highly Refined Pirates is their best (and quintessential) work, but I believe Menos El Oso is the superior album. The album is not boring as some may claim- it's just more mature. MTB's song writing is at it's best, along with the quality of the musicianship. The album is solemn and beautiful with enough hooks to keep you coming back no matter what mood your in.

Being unfamiliar with their previous work, I cannot comment on what someone would call the digression of Minus the Bear. But as a stand alone record, Menos El Oso, hits all the marks and is everything a good record should be.

The first thing that strikes the listener about MTB's guitar work is that it isnt filled with chords and simplistic picking. Both guitarists work hard at playing off key notes and keeping the songs fresh and interesting. "This Ain't a Surfin Movie" is probably the best example of this. Turn your speakers from left to right and listen as each one plays a unique pattern over and over again.

"The Game Needed Me" is a good opener with a rythm line that will get your foot tapping. Another standout "Memphis and 53rd" proceeds that and keeps thing flowing at a good pace. Minus the Bears lead guitarist does a lot of finger picking and pounds out some very good riffs. Another great feature of MTB is that the keyboardist is used just the right amound. The synth beats don't hit you over the head; they are mixed in well to give the music a more overall lush effect. "Fullfill the Dream" is a good foot stomper and is fun to dance along to when played live.

Not to be outdone, the vocals of MTB hold up very nicely and work well with the guitars. "The Pig War","Fullfill the Dream" and the before mentioned "This ain't a Surfin Movie" contain smooth vocals that usually have something to do with drinking, the beach, and women.

Minus the Bear have a crafted a great record for driving, enjoying the summer time, or spending time drinking with your friends or girlfriend. In an At The Drive-In "light" kind of way, Minus the Bear has used minor notes and interesting note formations to produce one of the top albums of 2005

OVERALL GRADE: A-

When listenig to Minus the Bear it's hard to believe that the pioneering metalcore band Botch had a hand in their creation. But alas, after that bands demise in 2002 Dave Knudson formed Minus the Bear, and Menos El Oso, their sophmore album is an indie rock spectacle of genre defying elements. Often, indie rock is down trodden mesh of boring linear chords and syrup soaked, avant-garde like lyrics. But Minus the Bear manage to keep the music up tempo, and still sing relevant and deep lyrics. The guitar work is more complex than the usual indie fair, and the keyboards/production by Matt Bayles is top notch as always. If you're looking for an album and a band that you can always be in the mood for, than Minus the Bear's Menos El Oso is just what the doctor ordered. Beware Botch fans, this is far, far removed from We Are The Romans.
Buy it. Play it. Love it.

The latest self-titled (well sort of) release by the Seattle wunderkinds completely exceeds all expectations left behind from 2003's "Highly Refined Pirates"... From the initial bombastic sounds of "The Game Needed Me" all the way to the chilled out closer, "This Ain't a Surfin' Movie" M.E.O. glides from track to track like an anorexic figure skater performing toe loop after toe loop. And believe me kids, that's a good thing. Rather than provide a bland track-by-track synopsis, let's just get down to brass tacks. Pachuca Sunrise and El Torrente stand out as the two real highlights of the album. The former being a raucous dance jam track, filled the the catchiest hook this side of Weezer; and the latter being a truly serious, introspective tune with a psychedelic 60s type groove working for it. The driving forces behind this release, as with any other album by The Bear are Snider's beautiful voice, perfect percussion, and the "nerdy" guitars. For those who are just getting into Minus the Bear, don't be fooled by such prior song titles as "Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister" and "Wanna Throw Up? Get me Naked". The boys have a lighter side when it comes to titling their songs. But the music, the music is as good or better than anything anyone is putting out these days. As with any other Minus The Bear album, Menos el Oro is a must have. See them live too. Yell Yar at them. They dig it.

This review will be short and sweet. I have never listened to this band before "Menos El Oso", so I can't compare this to their old work. What I CAN do is tell you that this album has absolutely won me over. This is a FANTASTIC band with a FANTASTIC new album.

My description of this band / album is: progressive & tight rhythm section with lots of precision, energy and unexpected changes; very cool delay driven & looped guitar stuff that will boggle the mind; vocals that are laid back at times, driven at others and lyrics that gain more and more depth the more you hear them. The catchiness, unexpected changes and the depth & complexity of the songs will hit you more as time goes on.

GREAT album.

Menos el Oso opens with a rhythmic guitar and a delayed, reverbed guitar intertwining, leading into vocalist -- and guitarist, don't you forget -- Jake Snider's evocative lyricism. In the simplicity of these lyrics, they find their strength; you will not find the depths of academia here, rather, you will find simple human emotion, raw in all its beauty, belting lines like "We sat on the corner of Memphis and 53rd. / As they filled the tank we had a drink. / She whispered, 'Let's get moving.'"

This trend is continued throughout the album, undoubtedly to the delight of listeners. Fortunately, quality lyrics and vocals are not the sole driving force -- though one could argue that they are not the primary driving forces, let alone a driving force at all -- behind Menos el Oso. Shifting from densely layered guitars to conversely smooth, rhythmic guitars, all the while maintaining a sharp, steady percussive beat, Minus the Bear displays a versatile arsenal of skills, from seductive guitar musings, to slowly enigmatic keyboard attacks.

Unlike a great many albums featuring similar styles of drumming and dense guitar layerings, Menos el Oso is actually listenable. Though Minus the Bear's writing style and unquestionable quality certainly help to stave off such unwanted effects of their style, the understandably -- and thankfully meticulous production by both Minus the Bear themselves, and Chris Common, who just recently joined These Arms Are Snakes as a replacement for previous drummer Ben Verellen. What is most refreshing about this album's production is the placement of the drums: never does the percussion take front-seat on the track unless such is necessary to the development of the piece. Perhaps the most notable achievement in production on Menos el Oso is "El Torrente," one of the most well-balanced tracks in recent memory.

Menos el Oso starts strong -- "The Game Needed Me" is captivating and enrapturing, showing clear signs of what follows. The subtlety of the music, even behind dense guitars and drums, becomes readily apparent after repeated listening; keyboards that were once repressed quickly make themselves apparent and the most interesting of guitar effects shift from being something noticed only in passing to being a true additive element. The depth of this album is its strength. Only one question remains, even after listening to Menos el Oso repeatedly: does this, in fact, count as a self-titled album?

Matthew Montgomery
musicGeek.org

I only recently discovered Minus the Bear while preparing for Lollapalooza this year. And I'm so glad I did! This album has a lot of r&b influence throughout. Fulfill the Dream has become one of my favorite songs of all time, but there are plenty of great ones. I'm addicted to both this album and Planet of Ice, and just recently added Omni and Highly Refined Pirates to my collection, so I plan on listening to Minus the Bear a lot!

After getting introduced to Minus the Bear on a road trip with friends I couldn't get their songs out of my head. As soon as Menos el Oso was released I was at the store and it's lived in my car cd player since then in exceedingly high rotation. The album has intensely catchy songs while being incredibly chill and it works as a complete album and not just a handful of good tracks amidst mostly garbage. This is the kind of album that if my copy got scratched to oblivion or lost I would promptly go buy a new copy even having long since backed it up to my media players. I cannot possibly say enough good things about Minus The bear.