Minus The Bear - Acoustics EP

This EP is a little slice of goodness that 2008 almost passed by for me. Luckily I managed to stumble across it as I peeked around another corner of the world wide web, and how glad I am.

"Acoustics" features a single new song, "Guns & Ammo", which kicks off the EP and it is to the same standard that long time fans will be used to. The highlight of the track for me is actually the delicate vocal, something that doesn't always stand out for me in MTB's work.

The rest of the EP is made up of 6 reworked songs, all in the acoustic format. "We Are Not a Football Team" sounds much like the original, at least in terms of notes and tempo but other songs, like popular "Pachuca Sunrise", are given the treatment of a whole new arrangement. With musicians of such a high calibre, all the songs here benefit from their reworkings. What is lost in effects and atmosphere, is gained in clarity and feeling.

Overall, this EP is definately worth a listen and the few pounds it would set you back to actually buy could be easily spent on worse things. While not filled with new material, it is still a very pleasing 26 minutes of music.

Minus The Bear - "Guns & Ammo"

Minus The Bear - Menos el Oso (2005)

Technical indie rock from Seattle which provides an interesting listen time and time again. The songs have definite hooks but with complex time signatures and clever musicianship this band definitely knows how to give their music real depth. In particular 'Pachuca Sunrise' and 'Fulfill the Dream' stand out, but it is difficult to pick tracks out from an album that works so well in its entirety. This could be for fans of many genres so give it a try and hopefully you'll like it as much as I do!

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