It takes a lot for a band to keep the same members, following and yet progress without too much slack from the fan base that they “sold out.”  Minus The Bear, the Seattle based Progressive/Experimental/Psychedelic/Math-Rock, whatever you want to call it band has put out solid releases since 2001 and gotten much love from the Indie music scene for years.  So when is it there turn to shine and get some credit from the big boys and grow a huge fan base they so much deserve?  I’d say now with OMNI, probably the bands most progressive and original album to date.  In my opinion, Minus The Bear albums have gotten better then the one before, which unfortunately means that my used to be favorite album soon becomes second best. I think I’ll be fine considering I have listened to this album about 10 times front to back and still wake up aching to hear every song on the album again.  That’s what makes a great band and a legendary album and I can honestly say this is my album of the year for 2010 and can’t see how anyone can top this, especially after two great releases from Circa Survive and The Gaslight Anthem in the past month.  If their last release Planet Of Ice is their winter album, then OMNI is the long wait for summer as each track is lit with positive lyrics relating to love, lust, sex and tripping your brain out while a she-wolf stares you down.  The album gets deep into your mind with Jake Snider’s soothing and metaphorical lyrics while the band consisting of Dave Knudson on guitar,Alex Rose on Keyboards, Cory Murchy on Bass and Erin Tate on drums all playing their part in the psychedelic grooves of OMNI.

The album starts off with a party hard upbeat track in “My Time” which received some flack from hardcore fans saying the band is trying to get all “MTV” but I didn’t see how since the band is known to throw random tracks like that on all their albums.   The band purposely wrote the song around this Japanese Omnichord that makes beats, so for any skeptics, the song was just made for that instrument and the rest of the album is your precious trippy Minus The Bear, oh yeah and the song is about hooking up.  The following track is a more poppy  but feel good track called “Summer Angel” which breaks down into a bubble gum chorus, but leads into a funky bass breakdown with a backup on the keys that blows your mind.  Snider sings “Her kisses came, they rain down” as the keys hit into an almost meteor shower effect as the bass just grooves back into the chorus.  The third track is more of a crowd pleaser and one of my favorite tracks called “Secret Country.”  A monster of a song that starts off a little slow but picks up into chorus line “We forget, we forget where we are” which sticks to theme of hooking up and getting lost in the moment.  Track Four keeps it real by holding it down with “Hold Me Down” a song they have been playing recently live, so it’s probably no surprise to anybody whose been following the band the past year.  The following track is a slower song in “Excuses” which is also one of my favorites and Snider sings about not being able to avoid a love affair by saying “Running out of excuses, when we know what the truth is, I’m into you.”  The great thing about this album compared to others is the length of each song mostly being around 5 minutes, so it leaves plenty of room for the band to jam out and reason to jam out live.

The album hits the halfway point with “The Thief” which is a good song but doesn’t hold anything to the beast of “Into The Mirror” a trippy, slowed out song with crazy timings and mysterious lyrics.  Rachel Flotard does the guest vocals on the chorus with the most beautiful line in the whole song “She senses the fear in him, for one irresistible kiss and the lie that she hangs on his neck like a silver chain to her whim.”  This is probably the best all around song on the album and one of the most original and creative songs the band has created and what makes it even more badass is they play the music backwards on the next track with different lyrics.  The song is called “Animal Backwards” and it’s a fucking beast of a R&B, Techno, Psych-Math Rock mix with lyrics that metaphorically compare a woman being a wolf looking through his window.  I have to talk about every song on this album because the album is an absolute perfect 10 tracks lined up in a row and to not talk about each one is a shame.  The last two tracks have quietly became my other two favorites which is “Dayglow Vista Rd.” a happy summer time song that references people just walking around enjoying the beautiful day and their “high” that they have.  The song is trippy musically as the lyrics are beautiful and it’s the perfect summer time song in my opinion, which means I’ll be playing it all day on the beach.  The final song tends to be their long out jam out song and they don’t disappoint with “Fooled By The Night” which starts off slow but hits you like a hammer about 2 minutes and 30 seconds with the lyrics referencing meeting a woman for the first time.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, this album is pretty much about hooking up and being high which is something Minus The Bear tends to incorporate in many of their songs.  This album just pushes the envelope musically and is by far their best lyrically written album thus far in their career.  I would make everyone in the world listen to this album if I could and if you can’t get into at first listen, play it again because you don’t want to miss out on this “Album of the Year.”