Minus The Bear

Originally in The Oklahoma Daily on October 23rd, 2007.

The first time Seattle band Minus the Bear headlined in Oklahoma was in 2003 at the Opolis, which holds about 180 people. The second time was at the Conservatory in 2005, which has a capacity of 240 people. Tonight, the band will play at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, which holds about 1,400 people. That’s quite a large leap for such a short amount of time.

The band, which consists of singer/guitarist Jake Snider, guitarist Dave Knudson, drummer Erin Tate, bassist Cory Murchy, and keyboardist Alex Rose, is currently in the middle of a seven-week tour in support of its latest record, “Planet of Ice.”

“This is the best tour we’ve ever been on, or that I have ever been a part of,” Jake Snider said. “Everything’s just been very consistent. The crowds have been good — good clubs. It’s been a lot of fun.”

A seven-week long tour might be considered too long by some bands, but the members of Minus the Bear are used to it.

“We are out for seven weeks on this one, then we are home for about eight days, and then it’s four weeks in Europe,” Snider said. “It’s been that way for like six years, just touring every fall. We know exactly what to expect. We are lucky now, because everything is a lot more comfortable. We rented a van with like a 20-inch flat-screen TV, and we have been watching a lot of movies and TV shows on DVD. And the venues are better now. When the clubs are nicer, the stress level goes down a lot.”

Prior to the recording of “Planet of Ice,” the band went through some lineup changes. Founding member and keyboardist Matt Bayles left the group in order to focus full-time on his career as a record producer, and Alex Rose was then brought in to replace him.

“The rest of us are so used to playing with each other, that we move really quickly and might overlook some things that are wrong,” Snider said. “Alex points out certain flaws that we might not see. He’s really critical of the music in a different way than the rest of us. Matt was more about filling things out and creating more atmosphere, whereas Alex is adding a lot of new melodies and layers.”

Earlier this year, the band released “Interpretaciones del Oso,” a remixed version of 2005’s “Menos El Oso.” The first pressing of “Planet of Ice” came with a bonus disc that included a remixed version of the track “Throwin’ Shapes.”

“I don’t think we want to do another remix album this time, but there will be a few more ‘Planet of Ice’ remixes that we will release in various ways,” Snider said.

Minus The Bear "Planet of Ice" Review

Originally in The Oklahoma Daily on August 22nd, 2007.

Is the bear named minus, or is a bear being subtracted from something? We may never know. But regardless of meaningless name origins, these Seattle natives have made the best record of their career, and possibly the year.

Simply put, “Planet of Ice” is epic. Monstrously epic. Even the album’s title and album cover are indicative of this. Full of angular guitar riffs, low-key vocals, constantly changing time signatures and 70’s style synthesizers, Minus The Bear has taken what made their previous records so great, improved upon it, and then multiplied it by 10.

Not only does this record have a much larger scale than previous releases, but it’s also far more mature. Gone are the ridiculous song titles and awkward sound effects that littered previous releases.

Each of the band members are Seattle-scene veterans. Guitarist Dave Knudson played with metal-core legends Botch, vocalist Jake Snyder held the mic for Sharks Keep Moving and drummer Erin Tate played for Kill Sadie. Though impressive, their past accomplishments are a bit irrelevant because at this point, Minus The Bear is obviously it’s own unique thing.

This is the band’s first album without keyboardist Matt Bayles (Bayles still produces the disc), though his absence is hardly noticed. Bayles left the band last year to focus full time on producing. Bayles’s replacement, Alex Rose, brings in more of a focus on synthesizers that blend perfectly with Knudson’s guitar taps. Rose’s presence is most noticeable on the monstrous “Lotus.”

While the vocals aren’t exactly at the forefront on this record, they certainly aren’t in the background either. Snyder sings about everything from one of his (seemingly) numerous sexual encounters (”Throwin’ Shapes”) to his reluctance to join the corporate world (”Dr. L’lling”) all in his usual laid back style.

The songs on “Planet of Ice” run together to form one long journey, yet still manage to have their own unique identities. The driving opener “Burying Luck” serves as a perfect introduction and gives the listener a good idea of what’s in store with the rest of the album. “Ice Monster” starts off slow, but eventually builds up to a hand-clap breakdown as Snyder sings “It’s come to this,” over and over that’s almost impossible to not clap and sing along with. The 7-minute “Dr. L’lling” serves as the record’s centerpiece and is where guitarist Knudson really shines. This song features more riffage than any other Minus The Bear song to date, and would be killer on Guitar Hero. And finally, the closer “Lotus” features a nearly 9-minute running time and crosses into 70’s prog territory yet never gets too indulgent . While not catchy in the traditional pop sense, these songs will almost undoubtedly get stuck in your head.