Minus The Bear - Lost Loves
by Adrian Huggins
published: 14 / 11 / 2014

Label:
Big Scary Monsters
Format: CD
intro
Impressive latest album bestselling Seattle-based rockers Minus The Bear, which, while a collection of B-sides and rarities, surprisingly sounds like a full and complete album
It seems about two months ago since I was reviewing Minus The Bear’s last album ‘Infinity Overhead’, and very impressed with it I was. Clearly I wasn’t alone in this feeling as that was the band’s most popular release to date as it charted 31 in the Billboard Top 200. ‘Lost Loves’ is a collection of rare songs and material that the band deemed not suitable to go on previous albums, and also marks the ten year anniversary of their first EP ‘They Make Beer Commercials Like This’. Some would argue that this idea of B-sides’ and ‘rarities’ is never a good one as “if they weren’t good enough to go on the album then why bother?” ‘Lost Loves’ should set this idea straight. When putting an album together, some songs just don’t work together, for whatever reason but the long and short is that these can still be great songs ‘Infinity Overhead’ Part Two and in some ways it is. The aforementioned was a fantastic album, and as such I think you’d be hard pushed to find any disappointed MTB fans with ‘Lost Loves’. It’s packed full of classic Minus The Bear style with the upbeat and frantic ‘Walk On Air’ and ‘Surf N Turf’, the punchy bass and jagged guitars of ‘Your Private Sky’ alongside the more experimental moments of ‘Invented Memory’ and ‘South Side Of Life’, which is very much in the vein of ‘Heaven Is A Ghost Town’ off the last MTB album. They have somehow managed to make what feels like a complete and full album which speaks volumes about their output really, but they’ve also managed to not go overboard and throw everything they’ve ever done on there as it weighs in at a healthy ten tracks and there doesn’t seem to be any filler on there at all. If you’re already a fan you will really enjoy this and if this is your introduction to the Seattle five piece, ‘Lost Loves’ will serve as a handy introduction to a band you’re definitely going to be left wanting to hear more a lot more from.
Track Listing:-
1 Electric Rainbow2 Surf-n'-Turf
3 Broken China
4 Walk on Air
5 Patiently Waiting
6 Cat Calls & Ill Means
7 Invented Memory
8 South Side Life
9 Your Private Sky
10 The Lucky Ones
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/minusthebearhttp://minusthebear.com/
https://twitter.com/minusthebear
Label Links:-
http://www.bsmrocks.com/http://bsmrocks.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bsmrocks/
https://www.facebook.com/bigscarymonsters
http://bsmrocks.tumblr.com/
bandcamp
soundcloud
reviews |
Infinity Ovehead (2012) |
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Vibrant and catchy punk rock on fifth alabum from still under-rated Seattle-based band, Minus the Bear |
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