Minus the Bear - 'Planet of Ice'

Listening to Minus the Bear’s new album Planet of Ice is like getting a foot rub from Jesus Christ reincarnated as a panda bear. It’s like experiencing the sunrise through rose tinted 4-D glasses. You know that subset of people who think doing drugs and listening to Pink Floyd or The Animal Collective is awesome? Those people are stupid. Listening to Minus the Bear’s Planet of Ice is super fine without supplements.

I’d like to apologize for my hyperboles, but I simply cannot deny the mastery of this progressive dance surf synth rock album. It’s that good.

Minus the Bear has always had a ton to brag about—all of the group’s LPs/EPs have been stuffed with great tunes. Aneurysm-inducingly complex yet ass-quakingly danceable, past works like Highly Refined Pirates and Menos El Oso were technical without being self-indulgent, poppy without being inane. While the group’s formula has been a winning one, Planet of Ice drops dance floor rhythms for more spacious arrangements and computer bleeps. Don’t worry, though; the sexy lyrics and stellar guitar play remain set to “awesome.” Listening to advance single “Dr. L’Ling,” with frontman Jake Snider’s entreaties of, “Don’t give me no hand me down love/It don’t wear the same,” is every bit as psychedelically funky an experience as older songs like “Memphis & 53rd” or “Spritz!!! Spritz!!!,” just with more space and warmth.

While “Dr. L’Ling” is great (and it totally is great, this is not a debate), the album’s shift may prove to be too radical for fans accustomed to the band’s more succinct grooves from previous albums. These people need to chillax, give the record some time and acknowledge that Planet of Ice is a worthy successor to Menos el Oso and, honestly, perhaps even better than it as well.

This album isn’t a complete shift from the old ways, though, as it does contain a couple of throwback tracks. Album opener “Burying Luck” is arguably one of the more conservative (for Minus the Bear) songs, with its carefree music and vague story. But it still tweaks the style a bit. Snider has never shredded his vocal chords like he does here around the three minute mark.

It’s the bold, different songs that leave the strongest impression. The opening of “Knight” is so jittery it’s as if the CD is skipping, but it quickly segues into harmony and gnarly guitar. “Part 2” is far mellower than anything fans may have expected, with its dreamy guitar/synth duality, but it rules. “Double Vision Quest” switches from atmospheric romp to furious rocker seamlessly. “Lotus” hits metal headbanger heights. Guitarist David Knudson has always been hot on the frets in both Botch and Minus the Bear, but his work on Planet of Ice is truly bedazzling.

The band didn’t rewrite Highly Refined Pirates, and it’s for the best. Minus the Bear has revealed a fearlessness in songwriting that is practically unparalleled. Well, Mew might be able to keep up. But surpass? Forget about it; Minus the Bear is your Technicolor panda bear savior.