Da Bears: The World Famous Da Bears
Grizzly Records
2006
7 out of 10

Bill Swerski’s Superfans would be proud, entertained, and confused at the same time by Da Bears' oddly eclectic and fun sound. At least that’s how I felt the first couple of times I listened to it. Da Bears is definitely an acquired taste.

Secret Apollo
Because of the integration of many genres, effects, instruments and noise, it would probably take some time for the casual listener to truly appreciate the album. Containing 15 songs with an hour-long running time (fairly long for a non-prog rock album) and segments of instrumentation, the band may hit some snags finding an audience, but the group is certainly very intriguing.

The band is primarily an indie-rock noise band, with an appreciation for some experimentation. Their quieter songs show influences of artists such as The Anniversary, Ben Kweller, Graham Coxon, and Ben Lee. The louder songs remind me of Mclusky, and the noisier songs of the Pixies, sans anger. These tracks are characterized by thudding basslines, guitars that sound like they were plugged directly into the mixer, and vocals sung through a megaphone. The sound quality ranges between lush and thick, as well as brittle and raw. Their style isn’t extremely defined, but I think Da Bears are doing something pretty neat here. The group should seek out Steve Albini produce their next effort.

One of their best songs is “Instantly Recognizable Mosh Riffs”, which takes Da Bears original music, and borrows lyrics from four popular pop-rock songs. The first verse is from Offspring’s “Self Esteem”, the second is from Blink 182’s “All the Small Things”, the chorus seems to be 311’s “Down” and the last section is from Third Eye Blind’s “Jumper”. At first listen, I didn’t even notice the familiar lyrics, choosing to focus on the music which possessed a distinctive soul rock/jam band sound. (I also wasn’t wearing any headphones the first time.) This song makes the band easy to swallow because they’re not afraid to admit they like those bands. Right on.   



The band does comes off as a bit too amateur every now and then. In the track “Standards of a Rock Album”, vocalist Ryan Solomon sounds like he’s forgotten the lyrics, as well as the timing of the piano he’s playing. In “TV Shows” and “Cage of Ribs”, the vocal track is being played in reverse a couple of times, a mistake that’s rather easy to make when you don’t mark you’re cuts while splicing analog tape. Despite an anti-Protools logo in the liner notes, the album was recorded digitally. The vocal reversal might be intentional but it’s still off-putting. “Doing the Sailors Dance” simply sounds compositionally inferior. Accuse of making a minute examination, but things like that bug me.  

Overall, I think Da Bears are an interesting band that is definitely on the right track, albeit a little confused and unorganized. That’s also part it’s charm, however. I congratulate the group on a nice addition to my record collection.

- Mike Lopez

Read a follow-up interview with the Da Bears!

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