In music, potential can be a slippery concept. Less tenable in a Seattle retro-rock quartet than, say, a 6'4" prep school pitcher with a great fastball, potential causes both critics and fans to recklessly affix phrases "shows promise" and "nice raw instincts" to lackluster debuts, hoping these consolation prizes will come to fruition or at least become self-fulfilling prophecies. For Seattle quintet Minus the Bear, the potential on 2001's This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic EP has been the sole sustenance in a career marked by unfledged EPs and a fallow full-length. While Menos el Oso falls short of watershed magnitude, the album showcases Minus the Bear's spaz-prog mishmash subtly solidifying into something potent.
Minus the Bear's instrumental prowess has always been a double-edged sword: Although their signature jittery riffs and hyperactive song structures initially reel listeners in, singer Jake Snider can't hold a candle to his bandmates, forcing them to sacrifice complex compositions for Jimmy Eat World-style power-pop choruses. However, Snider and his mates strike a compromise on Menos el Oso, allowing the instruments to carry an increased share of the melody while the singer's dry vocals take a backseat.
Opener (and possible west-coast shout-out) "The Game Needed Me" deploys jerky percussion, vulcanized bass, and spring-loaded guitar swells to complement Snider's smooth, detached Pedro the Lion imitation. The reduced airtime makes room for more rhythmic and technical noodling, and on "Memphis and 53rd", this conservative vocals approach produces one of the band's most commendable, and downright pretty, mid-tempo efforts. The song opens with a reverb-heavy riff reminiscent of Sunny Day Real Estate, building steadily towards a jazzy albeit anxiety-ridden chorus until Snider wisely heeds to the best riff on the album-- a spacey, lithe little maneuver that makes the album's finger-spraining licks seem even more gratuitous.
Unfortunately, there just aren't enough interesting ideas here to conceal Snider's limitations. "The Fix" and "Fulfill the Dream" each storm out the gate like Q and Not U rockers, but the vocals drag behind, eventually necessitating a masturbatory guitar solo to finish off both tracks. Menos el Oso ultimately stumbles on its own self-conscious maturity. Yes, the outlandishly long song titles and sophomoric lyrics have mostly vanished, but "El Torrente" and "The Pig War" don't need to take cues from sopor-groups Karate or Death Cab for Cutie. Still, whether or not Minus the Bear ever fulfill their once prodigious expectations is irrelevant at this point. They ain't exactly blue chip prospects anymore, but I can settle for a solid, developed role player.
