i just listened to the new minus the bear album again, very originally titled "menso el oso" which translates into "minus the bear" and realized, i don't, in fact, like it.
now i have admitted that i didn't think it was their best work, but after seeing them live in concert last night, i don't like it. its not very interesting, what had turned me on to them in the first place were guitar riffs that haunted you with their novelty. when i first heard minus the bear at eric and colleens old place on avenue b, at one of our mammoth music sessions, i had to have it. plus, their albums had what i had felt, next to guided by voices, the best song titles ever*
this album is pretty mundane.
but that didn't stop the 200 seventeen-year-old kids that were there from singing along to every word. listen, if i wanted to hear karaoke i'd go to BA's house, or alligator lounge, i paid $20 to see the band dammit, SHUTTHEFUCKUP. i love seeing people caught up in unmitigated joy at a live show (i.e. robert pollard two weeks ago) but when it seems more like making sure that everyone around you knows how INTO the band you are, i just get annoyed. or amused. like the dude standing next to matt who kept trying to get a "mine-us-the-bear" chant going. or the people up front who kept throwing up one hand with peace signs and fists, as if on video, which totally cracked chewy up.
luckily i was with two people who could appreciate the crowd watching/mocking - chewy and matt - and we had a grand time pointing out interesting haircuts and snickering at dumb clothing/behavior. we even had our own silent chant going, "play-old-songs, play-old-songs" and were rewarded at the end of the show with a few, although the guy next to us trying to guess which song they were going to play next dampened it a little bit ("come on ninja, play ninja, i can feel it, ninja, ninja" - i swear this came out of his mouth).
the only thing that would have been worse then the entire minus the bear show would have been having to put up with the opening bands. although the russian circles instrumental metal sounded pretty cool, its not the kind of thing i would want to hear in concert, and the last band that was on before minus the bear, i have no idea what they were called but to say they sucked donkey dick would be an understatement. the lead singer was super chatty, and would tell stupid soliloquies between each song, at one point imploring the audience to "really listen closely to the lyrics of the next song" to which he then donned a hoodie and stood in a crucification pose and screamed about "wine into water, blood into wine" while the crowd booed and groaned. he made the lead singer of elfant look like less of a douche. which is pretty hard to do.
just like the guys who were busy proving they knew the band better then i did, a lot of the girls there were on a mission to make sure people surrounding them were privy to all the intimate details of their lives they felt made them infinitesimally cool. shrieking about zanex and loudly recounting tales of making out with boys loud enough for everyone in the bathroom to hear your story does not make me think to myself, "wow, so cool, wish i was cool enough to do that/be them/know them." it provokes pity.
i'm not saying i was never like that. i totally did the same thing when i was 16, but in my advanced years now, it was quite distracting and pretty depressing to watch. i just wanted to shush them all, in their identical chuck taylors and 80s fashions, and tell them it was ok not care what other people thought about you. but i guess i can do that to all their clones at kickball sunday.
who am i kidding, i'm going to be standing there with chewy re-visiting the mock-itude, throwing around snide comments in "bitch fest two: electric booglaloo"
hopefully there will be better music playing.
*MINUS THE BEAR SONG TITLES
Hey, Wanna Throw Up? Get Me Naked
Lemurs, Man, Lemurs
Just Kickin' It Like A Wild Donkey
Potato Juice & Liquid Bread
Pantsuit... Uggghhh
Let's Play Clowns
Dog Park
I'm Totally Not Down With Rob's Alien
Hey! Is That A Ninja Up There?
Thanks For The Killer Game Of Crisco Twister
Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!
Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse
Hey, Wanna Throw Up?
Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo
We Are Not A Football Team
You Kill Bus Good, Man
Spritz!!! Spritz!!!
Women We Haven't Met Yet
Damn Bugs Whacked Him, Johnny
I Lost All My Money At The Cock Fights
Let's Play Guitar In A Five Guitar Band
Booyah Achieved
You're Some Sort of Big, Fat, Smart-Bug, Aren't You?
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