Minus The Bear - Invented Memory

Minus The Bear blend their own batch of blue-eyed soul, with this, a new song from their upcoming LP. After a few slight missteps in the recent past, MTB seem to be attempting to retouch certain elements of their beloved early works, while also delving into newer territory. Invented Memory is an odd yet effective shift between Peter Gabriel-esque R+B and Steely Dan level rockin. The familiar mathlete level guitar work is well on display, as is a very crisp layer of production. It's a song and sound not typical to the 'Indie scene,' and yet nothing The Bear has done has ever quite fit any sort of trendy mold. They've been in the game for some time now, and instead of collecting dust they continue reconstruct themselves - highly refined, if you will...

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Simple and Sure

New TPOBPAH slides in a slightly different direction than we're used to with the gang. Simple and Sure really steps along a tightrope strung between early 2000s Indie Pop and Blue Eye Soul. For some reason this metamorphosis reminds me of the transformation seen between Aztec Camera's early work and later work. For Pains I think this could be a positive shift that allows them escape the confines of Twee or Shoegaze. Happy Frozen Friday:

Everything But The Girl - Native Land

Look Back In Anger: Everything But The Girl were a British duo from the 80s and early 90s, who bounced around between New Wave and Blue-Eye Soul. You may remember their one ginormous hit with the Todd Terry remix of Missing (such a dope track!). Here's the group accompanied by Johnny Marr on guitar (& harmonica), tearing through a dreamy, jangle-folk number. Totally worth nerding out on: