6. Bears - Simple Machinery

Bears might not be innovative, really, and aren't at all weird or crazy, but they are dominatingly better than a lot of bands who do fulfill -- or try to fulfill -- those adjectives. (I write adjectives, but I found out on Thursday that I don't really know. We took a grammar test in my class, the editing process, and I completely bombed it. I like to think that I can put sentences together, and I probably can, but I cannot explain the components of those sentences).

See, sometimes in 'art' (one of my least favorite words), citizens of the world feel like they need to be different, or come up with gimmicks, if you will. And then members of the human race who are audience to this art think, "I've never seen this. That makes it awesome." But it doesn't necessarily. In fact, maybe it rarely does. Most of the time, it is just messy. I mean, sometimes, to me, things outside of the box are cool or interesting. Change needs to be refreshing, though. Change for the sake of change does not an improvement make. So, dear 'artists', do like Bears do and be good at doing what you do.

'Simple Machinery' is straightfoward and mellow. Their lyrics are sometimes hopeful, sometimes sugary, and sometimes a little bit down on things. The music doesn't show a lot of variance, but not to the point where it gets boring. Every single song adds to the album -- no filler here.

Besides 'Simple Machinery', Bears also had a two song release in 2008, the 'Who Knows 7"'. Surprisingly, despite only being released a few months apart, the two offerings are pretty different from each other, but both equally enjoyable (except that 'Simple Machinery' has 13 tracks and 'Who Knows 7"' only has two).

Unfortunately, Bears don't have any videos on Youtube, so the best I can do is post some links with some songs to download or listen. You can also access Bears on iTunes. I hope you take some time to check Bears out.

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