Review: Minus the Bear - Lost Loves
By Ethan Forness, Contributor
[Dangerbird; 2014]
Rating: 7.5/10
Key Tracks: “Broken China,” “Patiently Waiting,” “Invented Memory”
Collection EPs, especially those featuring previously unreleased material, are an excellent treat for both the artist and their fans. For the artist it presents an opportunity to showcase tracks they personally enjoy but didn’t make it off the cutting room floor in production. From the listener’s perspective it’s a glimpse into an artist’s past--how their ideals as a musician have changed or how they’ve improved their craft over the course of a career.
For Seattle natives Minus The Bear, Lost Loves was precisely that. Under Dangerbird Records, Minus The Bear’s Lost Loves is a 10-track EP featuring the band’s favorite unreleased tracks and B-sides that never had the fortune of seeing the light of day. Even this track list must have been difficult for a band with roughly 13 years worth of material to choose from.
Lost Loves may be Minus The Bear’s finest collection of writings to date; the band has gained the advantage of aging like fine scotch. These tracks sat on a shelf and accumulated their worth as Minus The Bear accumulated experience and developed a style.
“Electric Rainbow” is an excellent track to establish a foothold and the tune sounds just like the name implies. A somewhat indietronic slow-jam with a slightly intensified and brief chorus, showing off Dave Knudson’s skill as a guitarist, puts the strengths of Minus The Bear on full display.
There are so many underlying elements to this EP that each track has something specific to highlight, whether it’s “Broken China” or “Patiently Waiting.” On the former Dave Knudson and vocalist Jake Snider’s chemistry from 13 years working together really shines. “Patiently Waiting” uses a very tasteful auto-tune to create a distortion effect in Snider’s voice to match the overall static production of the track.
Lost Loves progresses very fluidly for an EP of unreleased works not intended to be arranged together. Intensities and pace change effectively from track to track to avoid a stagnant listening experience.
“Invented Memory” is a very interesting experience. Featuring eerily similar instrumentation, “Invented Memory” comes across as a 2014 version of The Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like An Eagle.” Minus The Bear adds a modern flair to an old classic and includes a face melting, trippy guitar solo that would have fellow Seattle native and guitarist pioneer Jimi Hendrix applauding in his grave. That being said, Minus The Bear blends a reasonable amount of guitar solos into Lost Loves. There aren’t enough solos to make any of the tracks particularly overwhelming and each one is unique to itself.
If Lost Loves has any downside, it’s a slight sense of familiarity among all the tracks. Despite their individual musical diversity there is an underlying repetition to a few of the tracks. However, this doesn’t take too much away from Minus The Bear. In fact, it may speak more to Minus The Bear’s successful formula as opposed to a lack of creativity. There is also the issue of front man Jake Snider’s monotone. Snider is a very respectable artist, but he doesn’t display much--if any--vocal range across Lost Loves, which contributes to the subtle déjà vu of each track.
The passing of 13 years was a wonderful chance for Minus The Bear to stockpile these tracks and mature as a band before unleashing some of their personal favorites on the world. Lost Loves is going to command a lot of respect from critics and fans alike.
