Seattle-based Minus the Bear have spent most of this century making a name for themselves as a band known more for potential than anything. As post-rock holdovers, they introduced that style’s proggy song structures and interspersed guitars to a light and breezy brand of indie-pop. On their latest, Omni, the band has pushed themselves further toward the latter style, keeping things smooth and slick. And this time around, they’re trying to sleep with you. Contrived come-ons have littered indie rock ever since Justin Timberlake led the charge in bringing sexy back, but Minus the Bear’s attempt lands somewhere between Maroon 5 and a Carlton Banks pick-up line. Synthesizers dominate the mix, with “Secret Country” providing the guitars their only opportunity to flex their muscles. Elsewhere, songs like “The Thief” and “Summer Angel” venture into sweater-vest funk, while “Into the Mirror” describes drugged out sexual encounters that stand at odds with the staid and uninterested way in which they’re recounted.
This article appears in June 9, 2010.