Recently reunited math rockers Minus The Bear will have a 20th anniversary edition of their sophomore album “Menos el Oso” out on August 22nd via Suicide Squeeze. That effort has been expanded with bonus material for this occasion, with the below demo version of the song “Hooray” having newly been shared from it. Guitarist Dave Knudson commented on celebrating this record:
“We toured so much for ‘Menos el Oso‘ — all these songs and riffs are stuck in my muscle memory like core childhood memory. The fingers and feet instinctively know where to tap and stomp at just the right time to make the notes and melodies leap out of my guitar. We were trying to push the envelope back in 2005 on this one, “incorporating glitchy guitar samples, hip-hop breakbeats and more electronic elements to the sound we had established on ‘Highly Refined Pirates‘. Proud to say that 20 years later it still sounds fresh and I’m grateful people keep coming back to it as one of their favorites!”
Vocalist/guitarist Jake Snider added:
“Oso is a band and fan favorite! We came into our sound on this record. Excited people get to hear these demos for the first time! Revisiting demos and hearing the evolution of some of these tracks puts me right back in our early 2000s practice space. And now we’re literally back in that same practice space for rehearsals. It’s wild!”
The album itself has newly been remastered for this reissue and comes with five previously unreleased demos as well as a 24-page archive photo journal titled ‘Los Archivos Del Oso‘. Both vinyl and CD formats are available to pre-order now through lnk.to/mtbdlx
“Menos el Oso” (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) track listing:
01 – “The Game Needed Me”
02 – “Memphis & 53rd”
03 – “Drilling”
04 – “The Fix”
05 – “El Torrente”
06 – “Pachuca Sunrise”
07 – “Michio’s Death Drive”
08 – “Hooray”
09 – “Fulfill the Dream”
10 – “The Pig War”
11 – “This Ain’t a Surfin’ Movie”
12 – “Hooray” (demo)
13 – “Drilling” (demo)
14 – “The Pig War” (demo)
15 – “Michio’s Death Drive” (demo)
16 – “I’m Totally Not Down With Rob’s Alien” (demo)
The band will commence a 20th anniversary run in support of that album this fall:
10/04 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
10/06 Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
10/07 San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom
10/08 San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
10/10 Las Vegas, NV – Best Friends Forever Festival
10/11 Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
10/12 Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco
10/14 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
10/16 Austin, TX – Emos Austin
10/17 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10/18 Austin, TX – Emo’s Austin
10/19 New Orleans, LA – Civic Theatre
10/21 Orlando, FL – The Beacham
10/22 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
10/24 Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore
10/25 Boston, MA – House of Blues
11/04 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/05 Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
11/07 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
11/08 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
11/09 New York, NY – Irving Plaza
11/11 Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre
11/12 Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
11/14 Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre
11/15 Chicago, IL – Metro
11/16 Chicago, IL – Metro
11/18 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/19 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
11/21 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
11/22 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
11/23 Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
11/26 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/28 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/29 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
