Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice

Minus the Bear
Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze, 2007)
Grade: B+

Download: Minus the Bear - "Knights"
Download: Minus the Bear - "When We Escape"

Seattle-based Minus the Bear will be following up their killer hit Menos el Oso in three weeks with Planet of Ice, a complete knock out album as well as a glorious Hoth reference (if you don't know what Hoth is, look it up).

Planet of Ice picks up right where Menos left off, on planet awesome. Granted, there are few (three to be exact) Pink Floyd-esque diatribes that show off a bit more of a space-y side of the fellas, which is pretty cool, but it gets a bit old after the sweet segment turns into a jam. However, the songwriting and precision is inspired throughout the album.

Aaron Tate's drumming continues to surprise me and furthers my indie cred as I drop his name at shows as "no doubt the best drummer in Seattle." Jake Snider's voice is better than ever and continues to write great music to, well, do it to.

"Knights" is the clear bread-winner of the album and hopefully will be the single. However, "When We Escape" is my personal favorite. It possesses all of the great qualities of Minus the Bear, but a tad more aggressive.

Furthermore, this is Suicide Squeeze's press release that comes with the record, it's classically worded:

"For the past six years, Seattle’s Minus the Bear have orbited the music world like a distant meteor, fine-tuning their brand of indie rock and discovering how technology can help enhance the band’s unique pop vision – all of which is about to culminate with their latest full-length Planet of Ice, an album showing the band not so much transforming their sound as transcending it." - Suicide Squueze

Also! Here are their fast-approaching tour dates:

Sept 23 -- Spokane, WA -- Service Station
Sept 24 -- Missoula, MT -- The Badlander
(Minnesota date hopefully right here)
Sept 27 -- Detroit, MI -- St. Andrew's Hall
Sept 28 -- Cleveland, OH -- Grog Shop (Early)
Sept 28 -- Cleveland, OH -- Grog Shop (Late)
Sept 29 -- Pittsburgh, PA -- Diesel
Sept 30 -- Buffalo, NY -- Tralf Music Hall
Oct 1 -- Toronto, ON -- Opera House
Oct 3 -- Cambridge, MA -- Middle East Downstairs
Oct 4 -- Cambridge, MA -- Middle East Downstairs
Oct 5 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Warsaw
Oct 6 -- New York, NY -- Irving Plaza
Oct 7 -- Sayreville, NJ -- Starland Ballroom
Oct 8 -- Philadelphia, PA -- Theatre of Living Arts
Oct 10 -- Washington, DC -- Black Cat
Oct 11 -- Norfolk, VA -- The Norva
Oct 12 -- Atlanta, GA -- Variety Playhouse
Oct 13 -- Charlotte, NC -- Tremont Music Hall
Oct 14 -- Orlando, FL -- The Club at Firestone
Oct 15 -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL -- Culture Room
Oct 16 -- Tallahasse, FL -- The Moon
Oct 18 -- New Orleans, LA -- House of Blues

The album doesn't hit stores until August 21, but you can pre-order it here.

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(Ian Anderson)