"Seattle was exploding with bands pushing genre envelopes: Schoolyard Heroes, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, Mon Frere, Idiot Pilot, These Arms Are Snakes, The Blood Brothers, and so many more. Among them were Minus the Bear, a phoenix band rising from the ashes of beloved Seattle hardcore heavy hitters Botch. Having more in common with technical math rock than hardcore, Minus the Bear carved out a space for themselves with intricate guitar work, buttery time signature transitions,"
"South Lake Union was no longer where you went to score smack, hire sex workers, or buy wholesale flowers. The foundations-both literally and figuratively-were being laid for the hellscape currently lorded over by Amazon and Google cucks. The release of Menos el Oso, Minus the Bear's second studio album, in August 2005 perfectly crystallizes this moment of Seattle's sophisticated sleaze before a single note is ever played."
Seattle's mid-2000s music scene brimmed with genre-pushing bands while the city underwent rapid urban transformation. Minus the Bear formed from members of Botch and moved toward technical math-rock, emphasizing intricate guitar interplay, complex time-signature transitions, and lyrical themes more common in hip-hop. South Lake Union's redevelopment erased former rough edges and signaled broader metropolitan change. The August 2005 release Menos el Oso encapsulated that cultural moment through provocative track titles, a Spanish album name, and a connection to the indie label Suicide Squeeze. Album opener "The Game Needed Me" pairs jungle-adjacent beats and synth textures with Jake Snider's vocal delivery.
Read at Portland Mercury
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