Every now and then someone tips me off to a an album that I had absolutely no idea existed yet it inevitably becomes fused with my CD player. I just can’t bring myself to remove the disc because quite frankly nothing else is going to sound better.
It happened in 2001 when my brother, Drewl, handed me a copy of the Shins‘ Oh, Inverted World and it happened last year when my friend Aaron shoved a copy of De Novo Dahl’s Cats & Kittens into my paws.
And I fear it’s happened again. This time courtesy of a post that I stumbled upon at explodingNOW!!!
A post about the Bears.
Hailing from Cleveland, Ohio, the Bears make music that is not, in fact, so dissimilar from the Shins. It’s psych rock at it’s finest, calling to mind not only some of my Elephant 6 faves, but also the Byrds, Lovin’ Spoonful, and the Kinks.
In a short period of time the Bears’ eponymous debut has quickly become one of my favorite releases of 2006 and for a limited time it can be yours for the low, low price of only $7.
- Listen to How to Live
- Listen to Everywhere
- Listen to Daydreams
Buy the Bears’ self-titled debut from their website.
Money no object? Buy it from 
.
Touchdown! Da Bears! I just ordered it. It sounds great. All I have to say to you for sharing this is: “Yer my Ditka”.
glad i could help! there’s nothing i love more than spreading great music to people who appreciate it.
bears’ self-released debut is my #1 album of 2006.
Unfortunately not an original name for an Ohio band. Check out The Bears from Cincinnati, OH (www.thebearsmusic.com). Led by Adrienne Belew (of King Crimson fame) The Bears have been making fantastic pop music since the early 1980s. Certainly a Cleveland band should’ve known they were borrowing the name…kind like a band calling themselves Rolling Stones as if the The didn’t matter.
Thanks for pointing that out, Jim.
I’m a big fan of Adrian Belew but it’s certainly understandable that the Cleveland Bears might not have heard of their southern Ohio brethren before. Especially considering the Cincinnati Bears’ sporadic releases and the number of other rock pools that Belew and company have their pinky toes dipped in (King Crimson, Psychodots, and solo work).
Let’s just hope that we don’t have another Mazarin v. Mazarin on our hands.