Many pluses for Minus The Bear

Minus The Bear/ Tim Casher of Cursive/ Dead Confederate, Fri. Dec. 3, 8 p.m., Electric Factory (421 N. 7th St.). Tickets: $19.99. Info: minusthebear.com

Minus The Bear — a musically sophisticated, danceable indie-rock band — makes a lot of different types of sounds. There’s relatively straightforward and catchy stuff, but there’s also tricky prog-rock tempo shifts. There are sultry r&b rhythms, but there’s also breezy atmospherics you’d never find in a club.

“I think it’s just a combination of five different people liking five different things,” says MTB drummer Erin Tate, on the phone from Switzerland before a show supporting Jimmy Eat World. “But there’s a lot of things we all agree on.”

The band will perform at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia on Friday, Dec. 3, and at New York City’s Terminal 5 on Saturday, Dec. 4.

With the release of “Omni,” the Seattle group’s fourth album, MTB seems to be finding its groove — both figuratively and literally, considering the funky nature of the album. Tate describes the decision to take the songs in that direction as a “collective” one, an adjective he uses a lot when talking about the band.

“I’ve always been a giant r&b and rap fan,” adds Tate, noting that he spent “a lot of time copying Dr. Dre beats.” “And Dave (Knudson) our guitar player started really getting into funk music.”

Tate says that producer Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes, The Shins), “also a huge soul and r&b fan,” had an important role in “Omni’s” funkiness.

It’s a bit of a shift from 2007’s “Planet Of Ice,” a slippery and jagged prog-influenced affair. Interestingly, the prog influences did not creep into Minus The Bear until a few years ago.

“Before we recorded ‘Planet Of Ice’ — it’s definitely our most progressive album — we were in Europe. It literally boils down to one night,” the drummer explains. “We were staying with the promoter. He lived with his buddies, and we went to his house and enjoyed some things that aren’t exactly legal. And we listened to (Yes’) ‘Close To The Edge.’ It just blew everyone’s collective mind. After that it was (King Crimson’s) ‘In The Court of the Crimson King.’”

MTB’s rise might be best described as a steady climb. The band — Jake Snider (vocals, guitar), Cory Murchy (guitar), Kundson and Tate — have moved from smaller venues to larger clubs, opened for bands like Soundgarden, Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World and played the requisite major festivals. Album sales — while no longer much of a barometer for many bands — seem to be on the upswing, too; in May, “Omni” debuted at No. 49 on the Billboard album chart, nearly 30 spots higher than “Planet Of Ice’s” first-week position.

Asked how he feels the MTB live show has changed over the years, Tate laughs and says, “I think we’ve gotten better.”

“We’ve been on tour constantly for the last nine years,” he says. “Whenever you spend that much time doing something, you get better. We drink less before we play.”

Friday’s show will be MTB’s first time headlining the Electric Factory, which holds about 3,000 people.

“We just kind of take it where we can. We sold out The Trocadero and the TLA so many times, now people are complaining that they can’t come to the shows. So it was either do two nights somewhere or play a bigger place. I love the TLA; that is a great place, and The Trocadero is great. It’ll be exciting to play a new room. … Philadelphia is one of our favorite places to play. It’s so fun,” Tate says, adding that MTB previously played at the city’s much smaller Khyber and First Unitarian Church.

At the end of December, MTB plans to get to work on a follow-up to “Omni,” Tate says.

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