Minus the Bear

Call it experimental pop, math-pop or just pop — it really doesn't matter. Minus the Bear doesn't need labels to draw a Houston crowd anymore. They've played shows at Walter's (which technical difficulties forced across the street to the venue formerly known as Fat Cat's), the Warehouse and now an even bigger stage at Numbers. The Seattle outfit's blend of oddly timed synthesized bleeps and beats with bright guitars and danceable rhythms, fronted by singer/guitarist Jake Snider's crooning vocals, has garnered them an increasingly widening fan base. Their latest album, August's Planet of Ice, sticks with the sounds of predecessor Menos el Oso, which shouldn't be a disappointment for fans who revel in the band members' ability to use their gazillion-and-one pedals, drum machines, guitars and synths to create some of the most intriguing candy-coated pop around. Portland's The Helio Sequence starts off the night with electronic rock that will no doubt prove a perfect fit for an audience already eager for some poppy rock bits and bytes.