Sep. 02, 2009 - Issue #724: The Drowsy Chaperone
The Minus 5
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, The Minus 5
4
If anything on Killingsworth sounds vaguely familiar, it’s
probably because it is: the Minus 5 is the ultimate tastemaker’s
supergroup, constantly recruiting talent from the cream of the alterative
music crop in the vicinity of Portland and Seattle. Yes, that’s Colin
Meloy, out of fey sea shanty mode, singing about Scott Walker on a middle
track, backed by sunnily limpid rock channeled from the very early '70s. And
yes, those textures of strings and percussion embedded in a tapestry of
instrumentation as deep and heavy as a summer evening are reminiscent of
Peter Buck production. You’ll also recognize the references masterfully
woven into 14 solid songs by Minus 5 lifeblood Scott McCaughey, melodic,
superbly executed and etched with lyrics as literary as any great American
novel: swampy Southern Gothicism, '60s power pop, poignant and lonesome
balladry and a straight-ahead Jesus country song that wryly quotes
apocalypticisms. Driven by (mostly) McCaughey’s lovely urgent voice and
deftly ornamented by a chorus of golden-throated honeys, it’s a long
meaty album, precisely crafted.The Minus 5
Killingsworth
(Yep Rock)
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