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Mostly Bears

The Ed Mitchell Clinic

(Funzalo; US: 22 Apr 2008; UK: Available as import)

Adventurous and never boring, Mostly Bears have stirred up a hornet’s nest of buzz since a SXSW showcase earlier this year. And based on this album, they have quite a few things going from them. Although the vocals bring to mind Arcade Fire, there is plenty of oomph and jump to the opening “The Digital Divide” which is drenched in fuzz guitar. Meanwhile, “Leda Atomica” is a lighter, roots-oriented, earthy pop ditty as is the soft but sincere “Airports”. Mostly Bears shine on the lengthy, prog-leaning “The Pharmacist” which finds its groove early on while “Eclipse the World (Oh, My Brain)” is a dirge-ish, creeping kind of song that evolves into a spacey, psychedelic effort. Although there are two “radio edit” versions which close the record, Mostly Bears shine best on the Muse-like “Melancholyism” as the big beefy chorus works quite well. Perhaps the highlight of the album is a dark and somewhat mysterious “Your Smile Decorates the Afternoon” as singer Brian Lopez leads his band mates through.

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


Tagged as: mostly bears
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Mostly Bears - Airports (Live)
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18 Oct 2007
Mostly Bears are mostly innocuous on this EP.
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