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So I saw these guys a few weeks back, and was completely blown away. I had been listening to them for a long time before i saw them. They put me in a good mood every time.laterAndy
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Minus the Bear
Highly Refined Pirates
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AMG Review of Highly Refined Pirates
Scott Thill
All Music GuideThey may call this math rock but -- contrary to the attempt at pigeonholing -- it rarely gets boring. Which is usually a good sign that the usual musical designations don't really apply to Minus the Bear. The only question that comes up during a casual or earnest listen to their latest release, Highly Refined Pirates, is this: where would you place these guys if you had to? Then comes the rejoinder: who cares? Filled with complex guitar fingerwork, aural synth embellishment, and spiraling arrangements that recall everything from King Crimson to More Songs About Building and Food-era Talking Heads to later work from bands like Fugazi (especially The Argument) and Juno, Highly Refined Pirates is a trip through what's great about newer indie rock that doesn't sound like it's trying to be punk without the danger. Many songs on Highly Refined Pirates float ethereally above their conventionally driving drum and guitar lines, and pack a serious lyrical punch to boot. Such as "Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo" -- comedy! -- which boasts one of the coolest choruses ever committed to memory ("You said, 'My life's like a bad movie'/I said, 'That's true of all of us'/You said 'I've got to wake up so f**king early'/I said 'Maybe the director's turned on us'). Or "Let's Play Guitar in a Five-Guitar Band," a dense collection of echo-heavy vocals, light arpeggiation, distant distortion, and enough hammer-ons to make Eddie Van Halen proud. But the greatest thing about this Minus the Bear album is that it doesn't let its sonic complexity go to its head. Each of Highly Refined Pirates' songs is filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrical wordplay (like that cited above) or entitled with toss-off lines from Paul Verhoeven's outer space soap opera, Starship Troopers (samples: "You Kill Bugs Good, Man" or "Damn Bugs Whacked Him, Johnny"). Al in all, Highly Refined Pirates will probably satisfy the music notation nerds, the indie cynics, and the random listener searching for something indefinite in a saturated pop landscape looking to hawk the usual boring band du jour.
Minus the Bear
you've pretty much always rocked
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Track:Let's Play Guitar in a Five Guitar Band
I've always really liked Minus The Bearbut until recently, I didn't listen to it on a regular basisit was in passing while winamp was in shuffleI just added two new albums to my listso it's showing up more often and I have to sayfor not being anywhere near my usual taste in musicI effin' love the shit out of it!I'm pretty sure they aren't amazingly well knownso if your into the more indie side ...
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fact
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facts:if I were any more attracted to Jake Snider, I think my internal organs would combust.I love movies a lot (any suggestions?)Cathedrals and 15 Stories by Jump, Little Children are amazing and you should listen to them.I'm going to a play tonight, and the next night, and a House marathon followed by an improv show on Sunday. good weekend.I love Ctrl+Alt+Del.I need to remember to write about...
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Highly Refined Pirates
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Wow, this is definitely one of the best albums I have had the pleasure of listening to in a long time, with such great songs as Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, Spritz!!! Spritz!!!, and I Lost All My Money at the Cock Fights I have found my new favorite CD.
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A conversation consisting of nothing but Minus The Bear song titles.
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A conversation between my girlfriend and I, her Mog can be found as "LeslieAnne":LeslieAnneDasGeistKampfer: see, that's why I'm constantly asking you about sarcasm or notLordShapersMuse: hehehe! it is all a plot to keep you perpetually confused so that you will lower your guard and then i will attack with my lemur ninjas!DasGeistKampfer: lemurs, man, lemursLordShapersMuse: : thus, my plan to co...
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Getting locked up
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Boo! Have to spend the rest of my work day in meetings with the most boring group of people on this planet! I will be tuning them out and listening to music in my head though, I think this song will be the first one on my 'playlist'
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fact
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facts:if I were any more attracted to Jake Snider, I think my internal organs would combust.I love movies a lot (any suggestions?)Cathedrals and 15 Stories by Jump, Little Children are amazing and you should listen to them.I'm going to a play tonight, and the next night, and a House marathon followed by an improv show on Sunday. good weekend.I love Ctrl+Alt+Del.I need to remember to write about...
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Thanksgiving Mini-Perch Mix
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Track:Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister
Look! It's a turkey Pelican! I want one of those in my front yard. Today is Thanksgiving my friends, and I figured I'd pay my many thanks to all of you guys before I headed off to stuff my face, watch football, sleep, and I'm sure I'll go out and shop or see a movie too. Man, I love Thanksgiving. But seriously, here's a huge thank you to each and every one of my readers for making the Perc...
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A conversation consisting of nothing but Minus The Bear song titles.
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A conversation between my girlfriend and I, her Mog can be found as "LeslieAnne":LeslieAnneDasGeistKampfer: see, that's why I'm constantly asking you about sarcasm or notLordShapersMuse: hehehe! it is all a plot to keep you perpetually confused so that you will lower your guard and then i will attack with my lemur ninjas!DasGeistKampfer: lemurs, man, lemursLordShapersMuse: : thus, my plan to co...
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you've pretty much always rocked
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Track:Let's Play Guitar in a Five Guitar Band
I've always really liked Minus The Bearbut until recently, I didn't listen to it on a regular basisit was in passing while winamp was in shuffleI just added two new albums to my listso it's showing up more often and I have to sayfor not being anywhere near my usual taste in musicI effin' love the shit out of it!I'm pretty sure they aren't amazingly well knownso if your into the more indie side ...
More >
Minus the Bear
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So I saw these guys a few weeks back, and was completely blown away. I had been listening to them for a long time before i saw them. They put me in a good mood every time.laterAndy
More >
First Post; Lack much?
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I've recently deleted the majority of my songs because I've got them all nearly down into my mp3 player and I needed the space. I did let a bit of my favorites stay thoughI don't really have much to say right now being as it is 8AM and I have yet to sleep; was dropping off someone at the airportps. a sprite at JFK is 2.70So, I'm whoring youtube at the moment looking at Ben Gibbard vidsThis was ...
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Older than my country
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Something about the line "Sitting on a park bench / that's older than my country," really hits me in a place that's fascinated with the adolescence of the US. It reminds me of the time I spent in Cape Town, and I think back to going to a vineyard and drinking wine all afternoon, and thinking every time I picked up a bottle to pour that this family had lived in the same spot and made the same w...
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Highly Refined Pirates
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Wow, this is definitely one of the best albums I have had the pleasure of listening to in a long time, with such great songs as Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo, Spritz!!! Spritz!!!, and I Lost All My Money at the Cock Fights I have found my new favorite CD.
More >
 "Highly Refined Pirates")
