Minus the Bear - OMNI (2010)

Artist: Minus the Bear
Album: OMNI
Date Released: May 4, 2010
Genre: Indie/Eletronica

Album Review:

I can't believe that today was my first encounter with Minus the Bear. I feel like they've made quite a few waves in the indie world, and as such I should have hit them sooner. With over 20 million plays in Last.Fm, this band has made a name for itself. But I digress.

With a style that perhaps best fits under the name "indietronica", this album explodes from the start, and shows the creativity and fearless experimentation from song to song as it progresses. This album is definitely a picker-upper, and has both explosive symphonies and calm sonnets. It's, in one word, diverse. I just love the low-fi sound that Bearless have made. The music is very experimental, and Jake has a sort of jazzy voice that blends very well. The album is beautiful in sound, but I feel could be arranged better. It looses pizzazz as it progresses, and the listener burns through the wailing guitar notes and electronic whooshes to find that at the end is...the end.

However, its ingenuity cannot be overstressed....go buy it now!!!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Song-by-song:

My Time: An amazing intro track to the album, very expressive and upbeat. Definitely got me hooked for more.

Summer Angel: A chill song to completely erase the intro track. Uncool. Usually albums start with 3 or 4 strong ones, but anyway, still a great song in itself.

Secret Country: The intros to all the songs on this album are phenomenal, but I like this one especially. Very mysterious sounding. WE FORGET WHERE WE ARE.....

Hold Me Down: This song is very mellow without losing its upbeat flair. Hard to pin down, perhaps because of its lukewarm state. It is still a great song lyrically: "Hold me down, or the wind will catch me up again"...

Excuses: Here's that jazzy feel I was talking about earlier. Sounds a lot like Reign of Kindo, very experimental and avant-garde.

The Thief: "You've got a rich dad who hates every boy like me. I've got no money..." I like the feel of this song, as a song of the underdog, filled with spunk. Minus the Bear knows how to match a song's message with musicality.

Into the Mirror: The song is shady both lyrically and musically. It's got a depressing tone to fit the storyline of one who grabs sex and drugs, and still feels pretty empty.

Animal Backwards: Using delay, the song takes the main electronic beat of Mirror and reverses it. It turns the beat from a depressing one to a very introspective one.

Dayglow Vista Road: A low-key song fills the empty space on the album. As a stand-alone, it sounds pretty good, but the album could've used something more peppy near the end of the album.

Fooled by the Night: Meh, not worth 7 minutes of my time. And yes, by now you should know that when it comes to album endings, I am extremely picky. Nothing will do. It has to start good, and end better. But good show Minus the Bear, you've made a new fan out of me!