MINUS THE BEAR has followed up last year's debut EP with a gem of a full-length album. After a year of building a loyal pack of fans in their hometown of Seattle, as well as winning the hearts of new faces while touring in support of their EP This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic, the boys holed up in the studio this summer to record new music with Steve Fisk at the dials (Beat Happening, Pell Mell, Low, Three Mile Pilot). They came out of that studio looking and sounding good, carrying the new shit, titled Highly Refined Pirates.