Minus the Bear

With their twisty, tangled guitars and number-crunching chord changes, Minus the Bear sound increasingly disconnected from a greater indie-rock scene that now prefers manic, cute-overload pop or tranquilized, NPR-friendly troubadours, but that’s part of their growing appeal. Of course, it also helps that this Seattle group has honed its craft over recent albums and EPs, moving from the calculated stiffness of early releases toward warmer, sweeter songs. Their latest is an online/tour-only EP called Acoustics, which strips down six fan favorites and introduces a new one, the windswept “Guns & Ammo.” Opening for Minus the Bear at their 7 p.m. concert at the Turner Hall Ballroom tonight is Annuals, a group that strives for greatness on its just-released second album, Such Fun, pushing their chugging, pittering, pattering, blooping soundscapes toward Arcade Fire-levels of grandiosity. The group is still too green to always evoke the desired goose bumps, but when they do it’s worth hearing.