Planet Of Ice [Salt and Pepper Vinyl] vinylsbase

Minus the Bear - Planet Of Ice [Salt and Pepper Vinyl]

Following the success of Highly Refined Pirates’ forward-thinking guitargymnastics and Menos El Oso’s groundbreaking glitch rock, Seattle’spremier pop revisionists Minus The Bear dug into some of rock music’s mostostentatious years for inspiration for their 2007 album, Planet of Ice. Whiletheir earlier material found the band absorbing and repurposing thevirtuosic dexterity of math rock, the airtight sonic manipulations ofturn-of-the-century IDM, the drum and bass groove of contemporary R&B,and the cerebral pop foundations of Television and The Police, the bandprepped for their third full-length by immersing themselves in prog legends,jazz rock mavericks, and other audiophile heroes of the ‘70s. The titlealone conjures images of Yes’s Relayer album art, and the influence of theelder statesmen’s symphonic scope can be felt throughout Planet of Ice’slush and intricate arrangements. You can also hear the band channel theominous instrumental interplay of Lamb-era Genesis on “Dr. L’Ling”, thedeceptively savvy musicianship and pristine production of Steely Dan on“White Mystery”, and the tightrope walk between ethereal space andpre-metal riffage of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” on “Lotus”. Not that Minus TheBear completely abandoned their earlier style—elements of Menos El Oso‘ssample-driven technique can be heard on the lead single “Knights”. But theheart of the song ultimately belongs to the haunting Fripp-esque guitar linesspliced between verses. After being out of print on record since 2010,Suicide Squeeze is proud to reintroduce Planet of Ice’s creative marriage ofclassic motifs and modern musical wizardry with a vinyl remaster courtesyof Bernie Grundman