I’ve liked Minus The Bear for awhile now, for a few reasons. 1)They play good music 2)That’s a cool band name 3)They have cool track names.
Their fifth and latest album Menos el Oso released in August 2005 is a keeper. “Menos el Oso,” is spanish for “Minus the Bear,” (if you use online translators they say “except the bear”) which further adds to their cool naming schemes. This album is a little slower than the last album, Highly Refined Pirates yet still rocks in the usual Minus The Bear style. “El Torrente” (english: The Torrent) is one of my favorite tracks on the album along with “Puchaca (Pachuca) Sunrise.” The guitar melodies rock, yet are peaceful throughout each track. For me it’s one of those band that I can always listen to and this album I can listen to straight through without skipping a song. [Same thing with Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm album] The one negative thing I have to say, each track has too much of the same sound. Yes that is their style, but I want a little more diversity. Even though I can listen to the album all the way through, it gets old.
Pitchfork kinda likes it and gave it a 7.1 - Read the review.
Purchase Menos el Oso from Amazon.com
November 11th, 2005 at 7:44 pm
Minus the Bear is pretty good… I don’t think their albums are ever balanced enough. I’ll try and pick up this record though, I’ve been meaning to for awhile.
And for the record, what Pitchfork thinks doesn’t really matter. Their opinions, as far as I’m concerned, are almost completely arbitrary. I guess praise goes a long way when it’s from pitchfork, though.
January 31st, 2006 at 12:27 pm
duuuuuude! menos el oso dosnt mean “EXCEPT THE BEAR”…IT MEANS “MINUS THE BEAR” DUUUUUUUUUH! ..i guess you could say it means except the bear…but ..thats not even funny ….
January 31st, 2006 at 12:39 pm
that’s what I get for using online translators and not paying attention to anything.
dammit! my fault, thanks jordan.
February 9th, 2006 at 11:07 am
[…] ETC: I’m really enjoying Minus The Bear again today. Great album = menos el oso. […]
May 19th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
I was dissapointed when Menos El Oso was released, it strayed to far from MTB’s original sound and tone. Their songs are more “catchy” and their getting more publicity because of it. Menos El Oso is killing Minus the Bear.