Growing up on the western side of the great state of Missouri, I developed a bit of Midwest snobbery in which I assumed it was a fact that Kansas City was the only good thing in Missouri and the rest of the state was irrelevant. So as my music passion mixed with this prejudice, I fell in love with up and coming artists from Kansas City and even Lawrence, while neglecting St. Louis’ music scene. I even assumed that St. Louis only produced rap and hip hop artists, thus fueling my neglect of the city’s music. What a mistake that was! 
I learned my lesson when Bear Ceuse came across my inbox. Bear Ceuse is Cameron Matthews, a St. Louis kid that recently won MTVU’s Best Music on Campus, and two friends on guitar and drums. It is shoegazey, but not so overly fuzzed out that his lyrics are completely lost. Matthews has a bit of a twang, but not that overly vibrato twang of country artists, but the kind of twang that gives a guy like Jim James his air of mysteriousness. I’d start out with a song like “American Wit” to get a sense of his vocal stylings.
Though Bear Ceuse is a young artist group, the music shows a lyrical and constructional maturity. At times he seems as if this is the male answer to Camera Obscura, but chorus crescendos in tunes such as “Vodka Day Parade” prove them to be more bold than the carefully restrained Glasgow group. Instrumentally, the guitars waver from intensely loud riffs to slowly plucked accompaniment that lets each note resonate until it fades to silence.
The best part about Bear Ceuse is that you don’t have to take my word that the group is good. You can check them out risk-free by downloading their EP from their site for free. You just have to sign up for their mailing list.
