Minus The Bear ‘Acoustics II’

Words by Amy Giubilo

After releasing ten albums, EPs and LPs together, what’s a band to do? Well if you’re anything like Minus the Bear, you naturally debut an acoustic album with just ten songs. Acoustics II includes eight of our favorite tracks from albums past including ‘The Game Needed Me’, ‘Hooray’, and ‘Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse’ as well as two brand new songs.

The indie rockers are known for their mesmerizing lyrics and ‘beachy’ feel, and when they strip down to just the acoustics, the listener is drawn to the pure essence behind each song. Nostalgia hits you like a wave in their music, and the lyrics and energy of Acoustics II stay true to that classic, sexy Minus the Bear vibe, especially with Jake Snider’s vocals.

One of the new tracks, ‘Riddles’, kicks starts the album, giving it that bluesy and rugged sensation right from the beginning. The band’s signature symbolic lyrics entice from the jump, especially “Oh you fooled me about a thousand times/ Convincing me that I’m just a city rat sneaking around at night/ And I’m so lucky that you’re the cat to finally take my life/ I’m just your sacrifice”.

‘The Storm’, the other new track on the album, starts off with a simplistic guitar riff – one that Minus the Bear fans will be certain to fall in love with. The lyrics in ‘The Storm’ take listeners through a downpour, and then the eye of a storm. “It’s been too long I knew it would come for me/ I knew you would come for me/ I’m powerless to resist this storm/ You bring me to the brink of harm then you leave me on my own/ When I come down won’t you show me how to break the storm above?”

With Snider (lead vocals and guitar), David Knudson (guitar), Cory Murchy (bass), Alex Rose (keyboards, saxophone, vocals, and programming), and Erin Tate (drums and percussion) driving Acoustics II, you are transcended to where poetic and figurative language have taken the reins, and you are now engulfed in something so beautiful. Words can’t seem to do it justice.

As ‘Dayglow Vista Road’ closes out the acoustic effort, you may want to head to beach and listen to it again. Or you may wonder, what are ‘Riddles’ and ‘The Storm’ going to sound like plugged in?!