Planet of Ice

So, I managed to get the new Minus the Bear album, Planet of Ice, early. I don't feel guilty for liberating it because I gave them $20 at their merch booth and it was kind of like pre-ordering the album. Plus, I plan on seeing them this tour, so they'll get their money for their work. I was just getting antsy and wanted to hear it NOW.

1. Burying Luck - There area a lot of guitar toys on this song. There is a pitch bend on like every chord in this song on one of the guitars. This song is hooky with a great scream on the chorus. With lyrics like "The man in the hole/has carried away/the moonlight/cupped in his hands/A time on the water/he's a patient man/as his careful stepping shoes." So, it's about a man in a hole.

2. Ice Monster - They played this on their last tour. It's a cool song with an awesome maraca-clapping breakdown. Spontaneous breakdance-offs could occur at shows. You've been warned.

3. Knights - This song could easily have been on Menos El Oso. Big fan of this as it is quintessential MTB. A lyric sample: "A piece of you for a piece of me/It's hardcoded." It's gotta be about exchanging DNA and breaking even.

4. White Mystery - Bass line is tight and smooth and in the pocket. They use the term "bottle of goodtime" in one of the verses. I like that term. This song comes off like one of their hopeless and desperate love songs about making out on a beach or in a pool or in a laundry room at a Christmas party. They haven't written the latter situation yet, but I'm sure it's in the queue. They have a gift for capturing those moments in their songs. Those moments of lusting for the caterer at a wedding or any of those moments that you feel totally uncomfortable relating to anyone.

5. Dr. L'Ling - SPOILER ALERT: This is a part one in a two part series. This one has been on the InterWeb tubes for a bit. The song rocks. It's got that guitar note bend from "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" by Captain Beefheart. The song's use of Yeah would make Rob Zombie proud. The song uses the fit of clothing as a metaphor for quality of love. That's pretty good. It also has a lyric about a fear of "Becoming a casual businessman on matters of the heart." This song is chock full of notes. It's going to look like Rush on the Show of Hands tour when they play these songs live.

6. Part 2 - Minus the Bear is brilliant for calling this song Part 2. It resolves the issues brought up in Dr. L'Ling. This song is half of the reason that the InterWebs are saying that this album sounds like Dark Side of the Moon. The beginning of this song totally does. It may be played on the David Gilmour Signature Model Stratocaster. It's about finding that right fit in Tokyo and there is a verse that sounds like sake was just forced into the line, but it's still awesome.

7. Throwin' Shapes - The guitar tone totally reminds me of 311, but that's just a clean Paul Reed Smith, I think. This is another song about the water, swimming, shorelines, boats. These are subjects that Minus the Bear writes about. They love water. Yeah is used effectively again. Even Yeah-heah.

8. When We Escape - So many notes in this song and it is one of the rare Minus the Bear songs that actually has the song title in the lyrics. The arrangement is really cool and dynamic. It's got that Pixies quiet-loud formula to it. Why do all of their songs evoke feelings of longing for something. That might just be me. I might be longing.

9. Double Vision Quest - Best named song on the album. Vision Quest was a tight movie. This song is a bad jam. Again, a lot of notes. If there are any more notes and tapping added to these songs they are going to need to hire Stanley Jordan. That's an inside joke for editors of guitar magazines and new age radio programmers. He's a guy who finger taps pretty much exclusively. He even has a damper on his nut so he can just tap like crazy. Anyway, this song is super cool and the drums just push it all the way through until it picks up into a nutty guitar line. This is pretty typical Minus the Bear, like Knights.

10. Lotus - This is the other half of the reason that the album is being compared to Dark Side of the Moon. It may be the best song on the album. It is really good writing on all accounts. The chord changes are very Pink Floyd in how they drive the accents in the melody. That's just my opinion, though. Three minutes in it turns into a straight up three note per string hammer-on exercise that I think I did when I was in high school. Then, it gets all slow and jammy for a while with some space sounds and gets super Pink Floyd. If you close your eyes you will see walking hammers.

Cool album, though. Minus the Bear fans will not be disappointed. These guys are real good. That's for sure. I'll make sure that I pick up a copy when it comes out so they don't have to dream about gettin' paid and get paid in full.

You can pre-order it here or here.