Minus the Bear

Seattle's Minus the Bear return with a competent but unremarkable third album that smothers their bouncy eccentricities and pop-friendly melodies under a wet blanket of lyrical gravity and murky production. Jake Snider's songwriting has always been wordy, but on this record it's become simply overwrought. "I'm becoming a casual business man / On matters of the heart," he intones on "Dr. L'Ling." And indeed, unconvincing emotional currency becomes his stock in trade here. His tendency to overwrite might not be so glaring, however, if it weren't aggravated by a gloomy turn in the band's overall sound.

Minus still have wiry guitar pop on tap, but on Planet of Ice they've decided to spread their taught tunes over proggy expanses—and these two directions are at cross purposes. Dave Knudson's mathy guitar work, which has always been a centerpiece of Minus' sound, becomes downright distracting. The spazzy, dueling guitars are constantly drawing attention to themselves, but only rarely do they break through the cobwebby productions. There are nods to Pink Floyd on "Part 2," but even this ballad is all showy texture and no depth. "Throwin' Shapes" recalls the quirky tunes that brought Minus here, but it's a rare, upbeat exception.

—Toby Warner
08.31.07

As evidenced on Planet of Ice, Minus the Bear's corner of the indie rock universe is much like that of Death Cab for Cutie's: smoothly melodic and tinged with all kinds of forward-thinking ephemera. "Knights" is dotted with electronic traces but driven primarily by spiky prog guitar leads and a driving pop hook. Nevertheless, there's also a grandiose side to Minus the Bear that strives for the arena and some kind of Incubus-like world of proggy, expansive guitar enchantment; it's indicated by the wheeling psychedelic accents on "Throwin' Shapes" and the slicing riffs of "Buryin' Luck." "Ice Monster" and "When We Escape" find the band hunkered down into spacy love grooves, while the icy plinks of "Lotus" locate even dreamier musical spaces. This is an album full of interesting harmonics, polished melodies, and singular arrangements, and overall a strong, hypnotic effort from the Seattle band. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide