Pitchfork

Photo by Ryan Russell

Brace yourselves, for come August 21, all we have known will cease to be. Come August 21, Planet Earth collides with...Planet of Ice!!! (If we first survive Year Zero next Tuesday, that is.)

Don't worry though, this is a good thing. Particularly if you're a fan of Seattle's advanced math mavens Minus the Bear.

Minus follow up the 2005 release of Menos El Oso (that's Spanish for "Neon Bible") and this year's remix album with Planet of Ice, out on that twice aforementioned date via Suicide Squeeze. As Bear den-leader Jake Snider told Pitchfork recently, Planet is "not quite as dry as the last record. It's a little more ambient; it has more of a really spacious sound."

Before you raise the red flags, however, know this: there's also "a lot more rock riffin' going on," as Jake added half in jest.

Planet of Ice was produced by the band in tandem with Chris Common and longtime producer/former bandmate Matt Bayles, both of whom lent their talents behind the boards to Menos.

The LP features ten songs, a couple of which should be familiar to frequenters of Minus' live shows. "There are songs from 2:40 to 10 minutes long," said Snider. "There's a variety of material."

Among Snider's favorites is "Dr. L'Ling", coined after a nickname for MtB's tour manager, Che Arthur, which features "this super heavy and slow, beat-heavy groove thing," according to Snider. "It's not as frantic as a lot of the music we've come up with in the past."

Also gone for the most part are the extra-long, math rock-derived, t-shirt slogan titles that adorn many of the earlier Minus releases. "We've definitely tried to tone [those] down...[and] get some emphasis away from that stuff," said Snider.

Other song highlights include "Ice Monster", which "turned out really well on the record" and nearly ten-minute closer "Lotus". Snider's stoked to play the new tunes live, and he'll get quite a few chances to do so as his band hits the road later this month with Chin Up Chin Up and the Honorary Title.

To celebrate, the band has some new gear to show off. "We did get some white amps and a clear drum set recently," Snider reported. "[They're] pretty icy...After the record comes out we hope to hit the road with some kind of planet o' ice themed musical stage extravaganza."

After tours supporting acts like Thursday and Braid, Snider's just happy to be headlining. "Whenever we're in charge...the shows just go kind of smooth," as he put it. "We know exactly what's going to happen every night." Additionally, of course, "it's just a lot of fun because all of the kids are there to see you. [And] if you're headlining, you get a little more cash in your pocket at the end of the day." Can't argue with that.

Following the tour, which culminates with a performance at Sasquatch!, Snider's going to take a load off. "I just want to chill. Do not a thing at all." Something tells us these road warriors will be back in the trenches soon enough, though.

Planet of Ice:

01 Burying Luck
02 Ice Monster
03 Knights
04 White Mystery
05 Dr. L'Ling
06 Part 2
07 Throwin' Shapes
08 When We Escape
09 Double Vision Quest
10 Lotus

Dates:

04-26 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project *
04-27 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre *#
04-28 Eugene, OR - The Indigo District *#
04-29 Sparks, NV - The New Oasis *#
05-01 Orangevale, CA - The Boardwalk *#
05-02 Santa Cruz, CA - The Catalyst *#
05-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *#
05-04 San Luis Obispo, CA - Downtown Brewing Co. *#
05-05 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex *#
05-06 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern *#
05-08 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues *#
05-10 Colorado Springs, CO - The Black Sheep *#
05-11 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre *#
05-12 Iowa City, IA - The Picador *#
05-13 Champaign, IL - High Dive *#
05-14 Sauget, IL - Pop's *#
05-15 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen (early show) #
05-15 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen (late show) *
05-16 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre *#^
05-17 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *#
05-18 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club *#%
05-19 Fargo, ND - The Aquarium *#
05-21 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground *#
05-23 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre *#
05-24 Aspen, CO - Belly Up *#
05-25 Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound *#
05-27 George, WA - Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch! Festival)

* with Chin Up Chin Up
# with the Honorary Title
^ with Maritime
% with P.O.S.