Album Review: Minus The Bear Infinity Overhead

Many fans were probably hoping that Seattle-based indie rockers Minus The Bear had moved on from 2010's forgettable Omni, the cheesed-up, glossed-over, synthed-out tribute to the sort of sheeny sleazeball music you'd expect to hear at every club in Miami in, like, 1984. And it was depressing as hell. Unfortunately, the quintet has continued further down the disco ball-lit rabbit hole with Infinity Overhead.

The band's fifth album kicks off with the truly grating Steel And Blood, perhaps the most Omni-esque song on the album, whereby frontman Jake Snider instantly loses all previously amassed points for being a suave bastard by coming across like a lounge singer trying desperately to incite some kind of carnal reaction from a pool of disinterested soccer mums. It's partially because he audibly lacks the passion, the rough edge, that used to permeate his vocals, but it's also because – against the backdrop of straight-up 4/4 soft dance rock – the whole thing spends its life laughing at the very concept of subtlety.

The record's not entirely without moments of strength – the wailing breakdown in Lies And Eyes, highlights Diamond Lightning and Zeros, and parts of Heaven Is A Ghost Town and Empty Party Rooms all throw back in various ways to the excellent Planet of Ice (2007) and earlier, but not enough. Two (relatively speaking) strong songs and a few encouraging passages is nowhere near what a band such as Minus The Bear should be delivering and, while their willingness to try new things and speak with a more pop-focused/less technical sensibility should be admired because it's brave, it should also be mocked openly because it kind of sucks balls