Highly Refined Pirates - Minus The Bear

Now here's a CD that I guarantee the majority of you would certainly never have heard of.

The band is made of a number of musicians from different hardcore American bands, and this album was released on August 8 2002 through Suicide Squeeze records, being the bands first full length album. Based in Seattle, the undoubted home of the "grunge" movement of the early nineties. But don't be led to thinking this is a grunge band ...
...if not all of you, won't have heard of them.

"alternative" would be the easiest way to label the band. "indie", "experimental", "prog-rock", "math-rock" would also fit the bracket. Whatever it is, this is a band with a different, fresh sound that never gets boring, compared to a somewhat production-line music industry at present.

A final thing to point out to you guys ... more

Now here's a CD that I guarantee the majority of you would certainly never have heard of.

The band is made of a number of musicians from different hardcore American bands, and this album was released on August 8 2002 through Suicide Squeeze records, being the bands first full length album. Based in Seattle, the undoubted home of the "grunge" movement of the early nineties. But don't be led to thinking this is a grunge band then if you're unaware of them, as I'm certain most, if not all of you, won't have heard of them.

"alternative" would be the easiest way to label the band. "indie", "experimental", "prog-rock", "math-rock" would also fit the bracket. Whatever it is, this is a band with a different, fresh sound that never gets boring, compared to a somewhat production-line music industry at present.

A final thing to point out to you guys in my intro is the song names. Yes, this is what they're labelled, and yes they do seem somewhat obscure...I don't know why, the band just seem to disguise real songs behind odd names, but as already mentioned, this band are different and certainly alternative.

For example, the opening track is entitled "Thanks For The Killer Game of Crisco Twister", and yet I've no idea why - the opening lyrics to the song burst in instantly and proclaim - "And then we all brought yachts/ and raced them to the island/ moored them at the docks/ and lept to our cabins", with the chorus being a melodic cry of "Our girls are looking so good!"....yes, somewhat vague, and interesting subject matter you could say!! The song itself is enjoyable - upbeat, with a toe-tapping tempo. The song fades off into a crescendo of drum beats and grooving guitar solos - the first song I'd ever heard from the band having downloaded it a couple of months prior to buying the album, and a great start to the album it must be said.

And just to assure you that the song names get no less bizarre - "Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!" is the name of track two. The song continues the spirit of somewhat uplifting rock music - a quick tempo and exciting layerings (if such a word exists?!) of sound.

"Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse" builds up slowly with vacant guitar plucking and a drumbeat - gradually building until the lyrics hit in after about a minute - certainly an example of the experimental element of the band. The song seemingly centres around drinking alone, or at least thats what I can determine from the lyrics. Another top tune - one of the best off the album.

The main disappointment of this album I find is the occasional filler track - just a sampling of music - no lyrics, at not really going anywhere until it just finally fades out, and that is the simplest reason why I've only given it 4 stars, not the full 5.

Other highlights of the album include "Spritz! Spritz!" - another exciting, rapid song with great melodies. "Lets Play Guitar In A Five Guitar Band" - a song I originally discredited, but is certainly a grower and a good addition late on in the album with the rhythmic chant of "She was something else" throughout the chorus.

You can grab the album off Amazon for £11.99 - not too cheap, but I'll be honest, I've never seen this album in any high street store like HMV or Virgin, so this may be your best bet at buying the album. The likelihood is you won't know anything by the band - "Thanks For The Killer Game Of Crisco Twister", "Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse", "Spritz! Spritz!" and "We Are Not A Football Team" - a laid-back affair that you can just drift away to at your own pleasure. These are recommended tracks for you to download......legally of course!! The band's second full length album - Menus El Oso - is supposedly a stronger album from the reviews I've read around the Internet, but you'd have to take a listen to that yourself...I certainly will be!

Go on, try something different today - trust me, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 

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