In a radical transfer (for individuals who know him, a minimum of), Scott McCaughey was useless set on preserving the tambourine to a minimal on Oar On, Penelope! (Yep Roc), the Minus 5’s first album in six years. Little did he know that he had an ally in esteemed producer Ed Stasium (Replacements, Ramones), who combined the LP.
“Ed didn’t care and threw it on wherever it begged,” says McCaughey.
A stroke survivor and a veteran of varied bands enormous, medium and small—together with R.E.M., Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, Younger Recent Fellows, Baseball Challenge and Filthy Mates—McCaughey has earned his main music-industry connections with extra blood, sweat and tears than most. There’s additionally the sheer pleasure he will get out of creating music, which infects everybody he’s performed with. And that checklist is powerful. Jeff Tweedy, the Decemberists, Kelly Hogan, M. Ward, Chuck Prophet, Ben Gibbard, Robert Pollard, Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, the Posies and Alejandro Escovedo (amongst others) have all fallen in with the Minus 5 over the previous quarter century.
And, after all, there are the regulars, most prominently R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, who’s again on bass for this one. (“He performed beautifully all through, in-the-pocket Musicmaster type,” raves McCaughey.) Additionally on board: Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood, the Bangles’ Debbi Peterson and the Fastbacks Kurt Bloch, together with Linda Pitmon (Baseball Challenge, Filthy Mates) and Spencer Tweedy (Waxahatchee).
McCaughey walks us by Oar On, Penelope! monitor by monitor.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “Phrases & Birds”
“‘It’s all too lovely, man!’ If not unique, that sentiment appears essential to me, to this document, to my world. This got here collectively after a number of passes within the studio, and it appears like we performed it ceaselessly. That’s what can occur whenever you play music with good friends. We didn’t want so as to add something besides Debbi shouting alongside: ‘These not possible wings, messenger that deliver, inexplicable songs, purple twilight and daybreak.’”
2) “Dying The Bludgeoner”
“I used to be studying and writing lots of poetry in the course of the shut-in years—pretentious, that’s me. Sonnets are a problem, however generally they flip into one thing else. This was sort of a sluggish blues once I tried to pull it into my musical world. Linda stated, ‘Nah, this could sound like Rockpile.’ She was so proper. This was reduce dwell, with solely me and Debbi including vocals. It’s not about Marianne Faithfull, however I do wish to shout out to folks I like. Anyway, she’s the alternative of no matter this can be about.”
3) “Let The Rope Maintain, Cassie Lee”
“Form of a sideways (the Nightcrawlers’) ‘Little Black Egg,’ this track got here in useful on the finish of an extended day’s recording. When mutiny was threatened, I gave my assurance that if the gang might final only one extra track, it might be a ‘one-take marvel.’ It needed to be … It was. We’re all hanging on to our reminiscences by a thread, however the thread might be fairly sturdy.”
4) “I Don’t Need To Hate Anybody”
“This one was tracked with upright piano within the room to guarantee the blessed glue of bleed. Sounds of the early ’70s are very particular to me. Thanks to (British people/rock band) Lindisfarne and Linda for understanding precisely what the track wanted. Her rockin’ spirit shines by this dang album. I like the way in which this take falls aside—just like the sloshed, sing-along ball of fireplace we dwell on.”
5) “The Backyard Of Arden”
“I’ve at all times liked (actress) Eve Arden. So did Bucks Burnett (1958-2023). We couldn’t resist inviting her over. Killer solo, Kurt!”
6) “Final Resort”
“The final lodge is beckoning. There’s a competition occurring, sirens sing gospel rave-ups, Dallas Good is passing a joint, and the neon emptiness signal is at all times on. Massive due to Debbi for singing my unusual phrases so superbly.”
7) “Bison Queen”
“Recorded the identical session as ‘Boxcar’ from (2023’s) Neil (Vol. 2): Welcome To My Dream World, this one might’ve gone to one among my Neil Younger tributes. But it surely felt at house proper right here. Enjoying with Spencer makes the whole lot straightforward.”
8) “Falling Like Jets”
“This track got here at me one night time, and I knew it belonged right here. Spencer rocked it. Sadly, my proper hand is now not downstroke worthy, so I received Ed to pay tribute to his buddy Johnny Ramone. I’m occurring document as saying this has nothing to do with the character Juliette from the sequence Nashville.”
9) “Burgundy Go well with”
“I noticed someone on TV, perhaps a visitor of Trevor Noah … I can’t keep in mind. But it surely was prompt {that a} burgundy go well with was a certain guess to banish the blues—or one thing like that. I agreed. Ed stated, ‘I had a burgundy go well with on the top of style once I was 16. I’ve been ready many years to combine this track.’”
10) “Blow In My Bag”
“I had an concept to do a Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazlewood duet. After all, I solely point out that as a result of I sometimes don’t handle to get shut sufficient to elicit comparisons. That being stated, I’m undecided what the track is about, however Patterson’s vocals on the finish persuade me that he is aware of.”
11) “Sharktooth”
“Ed says this has a Procol Harum-meets-Eno vibe. I’ll take that. I wasn’t certain how this may match on the document, however it does someway. It looks as if a tour nightmare—however a enjoyable one? This tune had Kurt Bloch written throughout it.”
12) We Shall Not Be Launched”
“It sounds damaging, however it’s in no way—extra a name to arms of kinds. Who must be launched, and by whom? I requested Debbi to sing the entire thing with me, and Peter added the patented people/rock sheen. Appeared like a becoming near this newest chapter in thee olde Minus 5.”
