Review: Minus The Bear - Planet Of Ice

Posted on 3 September 2007 | 4 Comments

My wife Amy and I are huge Minus The Bear fans and were (thus) eagerly anticipating the release of their latest album, Planet of Ice. It is (however) almost a little unfortunate that an excellent album like Planet of Ice doesn’t quite live up to the enormous expectations that we both had for it. You are probably reading this and thinking, “WTF?” Don’t get me wrong here, this is easily one of my favorite records of the year, but after the unbelievable rockness of their 2005 album Menos el Oso, Planet of Ice just seems a little safe.

For some reason or another every time we have a late night out downtown we always end of jamming Minus the Bear on our way home in the wee hours of the morning just before daybreak. It just seems to fit. The slinky prog-rock grooves are simultaneously propulsive and cool. In fact, everything about the music on Planet of Ice exudes effortless cool and meticulous attention to detail.

The unbelievably tight rhythm section of Erin Tate and Cory Murchy is capable of turning on dime. They lay down a rock-solid foundation for the virtuosic-yet-often-understated guitar playing of David Knudson and the smooth delivery of vocalist Jake Snider. As a vocalist, Snider made huge strides forward on Menos el Oso but (like the band as a whole) just seems to slip into comfortable territory here as just another texture in Minus the Bear’s sonic palette on this one.

Sure, the Seattle quintet has come along way since their raucous debut EP. They no longer demand the shredding guitar acrobatics of Knudson to take center stage and as they’ve gown as songwriters they’ve coalesced as a group. And although trappings of those times remain, the band seems to be much more comfortable pulling back the throttle and letting their songs breathe a little more. There is still plenty of frenetic math rock on Planet of Ice but, as a whole, the album relies more on moody atmospherics and sexy slithering grooves rather than brute force.

Minus The Bear is one of my favorites and Planet Of Ice is one of 2007’s best albums. Click one of the links below and buy this one today. You will not regret it.

MP3 | Minus The Bear – Knights Planet Of Ice
MP3 | Minus The Bear – Ice Monster Planet Of Ice

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Atmospheric, Indie Rock, Post Rock

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