Minus The Bear – OMNI

Encounters with Seattle’s Minus The Bear have always been pleasurable.  Filled with fluttery guitars and harmonious electronics, they consistently provid a quiet, contemplative sound.  But to call them simple would be ill informed.  For in all of their passivity, Minus The Bear construct their sound with ambitious instrumentation and complex time signatures.  And while this may have led to some confusion amongst casual fans, the release of their fourth studio album, OMNI, serves to shatter those misconceptions.

OMNI stands apart from Minus The Bear’s previous offerings by replacing their traditional passivity with much more activity.  But in courteous Minus The Bear fashion, they’re careful to ease listeners into their new vision.  The first two tracks feature something of an easygoing retro groove.  In “My Name,” long and connected 80’s synth notes fluctuate as twinkly electronic blasts pepper the foreground.  “Summer Angel” piggybacks off of “My Name”’s grooves, but shifts the focus from electronics over to the rest of the band.  Remarkably, by the time “Secret Country” rolls around, the band starts throwing in ambitious guitar led bridges and solos without sacrificing their knack for meticulous planning.

As the album progresses, OMNI explores Minus The Bear’s “active” side by producing a very “full” and continually evolving sound.  Tracks like “Hold Me Down” find strength in calculated rhythmic percussion, whereas those like “Excuses” flourish in a jazzy, advant garde setting.  But no track captures OMNI’s mission more than “Into The Mirror.”  Here Minus The Bear realizes the potential of meshing jarring electronics with a lush and layered ensemble.  The result is continually stimulating, and always entertaining.  In many ways OMNI is to Minus The Bear what Armistice is to contemporaries MuteMath – a metaphoric “waking up” of latent sounds slumbering deep within previous efforts.

However, lyrics can sometime get in the way.  Despite Minus The Bear’s reputation for deeply introspective emotive analyses, the album starts on a comparatively shallow note.  For example, passages like “Turn off the lights/touch me in the dark/fade into the feeling/and whisper in my ear/what you want/what you need/tell me my name… again, again… just yell out my name” just feel cheesy.  Even if intended as some sort of pop-music satire, these lines will be a tough sell – especially considering their Pitchfork oriented audience.  Granted, the band returns to their usual poetic selves a few tracks later, which should make most listeners fairly forgiving by ONMI’s end.

But even with a few questionably judgment calls, OMNI finds Minus The Bear at the top of their game.  Long time fans will likely embrace the band’s more active presentation, while those previously on the fence should find themselves drawn to Minus The Bear’s newfound catchiness.

This Bear has awoken from a long hibernation, so be on the look out; because once it sinks its melody-laced teeth into your consciousness, there can be no escape.