Day 2 - Minus The Bear - Knights

The music video is here. The music video is almost as cool as the song. Almost. Pay particular attention to the shots of the individual band members interacting with themselves. Those shots delight my artistic sensibilities.

It was "Stapler" that launched my career as an internet musician, and this was the song that inspired me to do this blog. I came across this entry over in Glenn Case's Blog, and not only did I like the concept and eventually get interested enough to start, but I was thrilled to find out that Minus The Bear had a new album out! I looked for it at Target, as soon as I read his entry, but to no avail; I'll have to look again. Meanwhile, the internet helped me get a hold of it. There's some great stuff on here, but this is the only song I'm totally in love with so far, but probably just because I've listened to it more times than the rest of the album, thanks to the video. This song is great from the first notes Dave Knudson stomps out on his delay pedal. The intro reminds me of the beginning of the opening track from Menos El Oso, "The Game Needed Me," but the high-tech urban funk feel has been replaced with a much more straight-ahead post-punk groove. That said, it's at least as danceable. This song rocks about as fast as I usually like songs to rock. I can really feel the energy without feeling like I'm being rushed through the song. The little instrumental breaks help that out a lot, and give it some dynamic structure. Everything about this song is just great, but of particular interest is the instrumental section starting at around 1:44. It begins with a good old fashioned chord slamming rockout section, and using a somewhat uncharacteristic kickass shred lick, segues into a more bluesy take on the post-punk sound. From there, the mysteriously beautiful guitar melody that was hinted at earlier takes over. Wow. Then we're back to the intro thing, but wait, what? The chorus in half-time!? Absolutely brilliant! Then there's that infectious guitar line again. You can really feel a lot of sonic space here. All the great melodic ideas from earlier in the song really have room to sink in. It's a pause for reflection after such an amazing sonic journey. And that's where they leave you.

What's not to like about this band? Outstanding technical proficiency, exceptional instrumental creativity, plus great pop hooks. And a pretty physically attractive bunch, at that. Sounds like a winning formula. I don't even know who to compliment, specifically. Every band member brings something great to the table, musically. Hopefully, I can meet up with John at their show in Orlando about a month from now.