Pitchfork

Uh oh, looks like Minus the Bear have up and matured on us. The Seattle math-rockers, previously known mostly for their silly song titles ("Hey, Wanna Throw Up? Get Me Naked", "Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo"), will release Menos El Oso (which is Spanish for, duh, Minus the Bear) on Suicide Squeeze on Aug 23, an album with a strikingly unfunny tracklisting. Check it out:

01 The Game Needed Me
02 Memphis & 53rd
03 Drilling
04 The Fix
05 El Torrente
06 Pachuca Sunrise
07 Michio's Death Drive
08 Hooray
09 Fulfill the Dream
10 The Pig War
11 This Ain't a Surfin Movie

Wow, what happened? Quoth the accompanying press release: "Minus The Bear's days of writing 'songs about drinking and girls' are done and gone-- instead replaced by tales of money as metaphor, stripped innocence, and lovelorn remembrance." Bo-oring!

Luckily, dudes still bring the pain live, and they've got a lengthy trek planned for this fall, with such luminaries as Thuderbirds Are Now!, labelmates Headphones and recent Saddle Creek signees Criteria.

Plus the elephant:

08-27 Vancouver, British Columbia - Media Club
09-03 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
09-07 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan *@
09-08 Spokane, WA - Fat Tuesday's *@
09-09 Boise, ID - The Venue *@
09-10 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue *@
09-11 Denver, CO - Cervantes *@
09-12 Lawrence, KS - Granada Theatre *@
09-13 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle at Washington University *@!
09-14 Urbana, IL - Courtyard Cafe *@!
09-15 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock *@!
09-16 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge *@
09-17 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *@
09-19 Providence, RI - The Living Room *@
09-20 Boston, MA - Middle East Downstairs*@
09-21 New York, NY - Knitting Factory *#
09-22 Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts *#^
09-24 Washington, DC - Black Cat *#^
09-25 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *#^
09-27 Richmond, VA - Alley Katz *#^
09-28 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle *#^
09-29 Charlotte, NC - Casbah at Tremont *#
09-30 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn *#^
10-01 Orlando, FL - The Social %#^
10-02 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds %#^
10-03 Tallahassee, FL - Club Down Under %#^
10-04 New Orleans, LA - Twiropa %#^
10-05 Austin, TX - Emo's %#^
10-06 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington %#^
10-07 Dallas, TX - Club Clearview %#^
10-08 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory %#^
10-11 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse %#^
10-12 San Diego, CA - Casbah %#
10-13 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour %#$br> 10-16 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall %#

* with These Arms Are Snakes
@ with Thunderbirds Are Now!
! with City on Film
# with Criteria
^ with the New Trust
% with Headphones
$ with Heather Duby