Minus the Bear will be touring Japan from 7/15 to 7/20, much to the chagrin of Jake Snider's wife (they have a thing for Sanrio stuff).

"We all love the Sanrio stuff so much. A couple of the new characters are pretty killer. Keroppi, the frog, is my favorite. There are a few stores around us, and I go with my wife a lot. We have a Hello Kitty vacuum and TV."

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Minus the Bear is a complex shot of ruckus rhythms and superb guitars that are jazzy, emo and math rock equaling happy fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, Owls or Juno. This blend of catchy and moody rock is intriguing since a few of the members of the band have been in much rougher projects like Botch and Kill Sadie. During the band's formation some fans of the members' previous projects might have been a bit confused.