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what do you think of this silly indie consortium?

love it
- 0 (0%)
it's ok
- 0 (0%)
interesting, but not anything special
- 0 (0%)
not my favorite
- 1 (100%)
bad bad bad
- 0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 0

Voting closed: 05 Apr 2006, 13:05


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Author Topic: The Minus 5  (Read 5307 times)

heretic

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The Minus 5
« on: 05 Apr 2006, 13:05 »
ok, i searched all over for a thread on this, and i don't think there is one yet, so...
i just got a promo copy of The Minus 5's new self-titled album (the gun album) and, seeing as i'd never heard of the minus 5 and they seem like a pretty cool concept in theory, i wrote review for my student paper.
well, here's that review if you want to read it, or just lemme know what you all think.

wiki article

Quote from: I
On first listen, The Minus 5's self-titled album is absolutely nothing special. In fact, it was almost impressive in it's mediocrity. Scott McCaughey of the Fresh Young Fellows leads the consortium of indie rockers through an album that ranges from beach rock to a decidedly country feel. The Gun Album, as it is known, blazes by after a paltry 42 minutes, leaving the listener unfulfilled. Most albums take the listener through a story, a journey, or at least an enjoyable listening experience; this seems to strive for the exact opposite. Not one of the tracks is bad, but all together they make is nearly impossible to enjoy any of them. It's very hard to appreciate a track when the one that directly follows it is basically the same thing. Now, this is a difficult assertion to make, because this reviewer does not allege that all the songs sound the same, but rather, that they all feel the same. Every song conjures thoughts of a simple life, a country life, where things moves slowly, where the sixties never ended.
    The Minus 5 is a project McCaughey formed when he realized he had buckets of material he would never use with the Fresh Young Fellows. There are 18 artists listed as contributors on this, their seventh album, including Wilco and Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. You would never know that there are nearly twenty people on this album, though, because the instrumentation doesn't change drastically. The majority of the album just seems like filler, neither impressive nor offensive, a waste of an idea with such potential.
    Even if the album all blends together, after the fifth or sixth listen it does start to get catchy. Colin Meloy is always enjoyable, and brings his influence to the strongest track on the album, Twilight Distillery, an upbeat, fun indie rock tune. After all is said and done, this album is basically an indie-rock spin on 1960's rock and country, seeming to evoke everyone from The Beatles to Willie Nelson. This is certainly not bad music, it is simply unremarkable and inessential for any music collection. It's been done before, better.

Bottom Line: Really only worth buying for the novelty of a band with no set membership. There is really not much to say about this. Ho-hum.
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Bastardous Bassist

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The Minus 5
« Reply #1 on: 05 Apr 2006, 13:16 »
There are bands that are actually good that have no set membership.  Death changed the lineup every album except for the singer/guitarist (who is now dead, unfortunatley).  There's also Probot, which definitely has some great moments.  Ayreon is another one, but they produce concept albums.  Demons & Wizards is much more like Death.  I could go on, but maybe I'm missing what's so cool about The Minus 5, aside from the fact that they play indie instead of metal.
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Kai

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The Minus 5
« Reply #2 on: 05 Apr 2006, 14:13 »
OH MAN. Me and my friend were talking about Probot. Not the band though, the little propane robot statues Peggy Hill in King the the Hill sculpted one episode. I'm assuming that's where they got it.


Les Claypool's Holy Mackerel had no really set lineup, and his Fancy Band/Frog Brigade tends to trade them all up alot.
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Quote from: Mr. Doctor on 21 Sep 2009, 12:01
but the music sucks because the keyboards don't have the cold/mechanical sound they had but a wannabe techno sound that it's pathetic for Rammstein standars.

Bastardous Bassist

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The Minus 5
« Reply #3 on: 05 Apr 2006, 14:17 »
Well, probot might also be a reference to Star Wars and these little devils:
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Kai

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The Minus 5
« Reply #4 on: 05 Apr 2006, 14:18 »
OH MAN I FORGOT ABOUT THOSE THINGS



I have to watch Star Wars again.


PEGGY: Let me think. Propane... America... the future. I've got it! A Probot!
HANK: A what?
PEGGY: A Probot, Hank. A robot made entirely of propane tanks, welcoming people to the future. A future of Arlen pride, and hard work, and clean-burning barbecues.
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Quote from: Mr. Doctor on 21 Sep 2009, 12:01
but the music sucks because the keyboards don't have the cold/mechanical sound they had but a wannabe techno sound that it's pathetic for Rammstein standars.

OtterErotic

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The Minus 5
« Reply #5 on: 05 Apr 2006, 15:36 »
THe Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy is a good album.... apart from that, I'm not crazy about the Minus 5.
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valley_parade

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The Minus 5
« Reply #6 on: 05 Apr 2006, 15:42 »
Quote from: Bastardous Bassist
There are bands that are actually good that have no set membership.


Weezer and their rotating bassists (although Shriner was only good on Maladroit), eg.
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Quote from: Patrick on 13 Sep 2011, 12:20
Wait so you're letting something that happened 10 years ago ruin your quality of life? What are you, America? :psyduck:

Kai

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The Minus 5
« Reply #7 on: 05 Apr 2006, 16:10 »
Quote from: tommydski
the fall have no set line-up.
they are one of the best bands of all time.

but listening to a band because of their combined previous output is dangerous, regardless of how good they were before -



WHile we're at it:

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Quote from: Mr. Doctor on 21 Sep 2009, 12:01
but the music sucks because the keyboards don't have the cold/mechanical sound they had but a wannabe techno sound that it's pathetic for Rammstein standars.

Omnicide

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The Minus 5
« Reply #8 on: 05 Apr 2006, 16:13 »
Quote from: tommydski
the fall have no set line-up.
they are one of the best bands of all time.


That's 'cause The Fall is basically Mark E Smith and whoever's soft enough to share a stage with him. Legendary guy.
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Bastardous Bassist

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The Minus 5
« Reply #9 on: 05 Apr 2006, 16:22 »
Quote from: Valley_Parade
Weezer and their rotating bassists (although Shriner was only good on Maladroit), eg.


If we're just talking about one member change, then I can throw one of my favorites out there: Planet X.
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nescience

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The Minus 5
« Reply #10 on: 05 Apr 2006, 17:25 »
Steely fucking Dan.  Ha-HA!
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KharBevNor

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The Minus 5
« Reply #11 on: 05 Apr 2006, 19:00 »
This model is actually the standard mode for Neo-Folk. I cannot at this moment think of one Neo-Folk group, especially not one major one, that is not driven by a single creative force surrounded by a slew of semi-anonymous supporting musicians: Dave Tibet for Current 93, Tony Wakeford for Sol Invictus, Douglas Pearce for Death in June, Kim Larsen for :Of The Wand and the Moon:, etc. etc. The only ones with fixed membership are mainly solo projects or romantically involved/family duos like The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud and Changes. You also find this thing a lot in progressive metal, though it's more likely there to set up a different band-name for each line-up (This is why Dan Swano has been a member of about 30 or more different bands. Most, frankly, are just him bossing round different groups of musicians in different genres.) See also Arjen Lucassen and Devin Townsend.
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[22:26] Dovey: and at least one of those was a blatant ploy at getting sigquoted

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soap

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The Minus 5
« Reply #12 on: 05 Apr 2006, 19:17 »
hawkwind are kings of the no fixed line-up policy too... i reckon there are times where you could see them twice on the same tour and it might not be the same band (beyond the brock/chadwick/davey core they're established this past decade).
they even managed to get rid of the 'main man' dave brock once, so he started his own new band comprised entirely of some of the hawkwind members that didn't happen to be in the 'official' lineup at the time.
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Kai

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The Minus 5
« Reply #13 on: 05 Apr 2006, 19:32 »
Oh man, I think Nurse With Wound has quite possibly the biggest rotation ever.
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Quote from: Mr. Doctor on 21 Sep 2009, 12:01
but the music sucks because the keyboards don't have the cold/mechanical sound they had but a wannabe techno sound that it's pathetic for Rammstein standars.

KharBevNor

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The Minus 5
« Reply #14 on: 05 Apr 2006, 20:49 »
Especially if you count the groups they've collaborated with on various things.

Easily over a hundred different past members.
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[22:25] Dovey: i don't get sigquoted much
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[22:26] Dovey: and at least one of those was a blatant ploy at getting sigquoted

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heretic

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The Minus 5
« Reply #15 on: 05 Apr 2006, 23:04 »
yeah, i know there are other bands that don't have a set membership, i was simply talking about this one because it think it's cool that the side project Scott created to dump extra stuff on is on thier 7th album.

also, this was meant to be a discussion of the band and it's merits, not just the fact that it has many incarnations and what other bands do. as you can tell fro the review i do not think they are that great, i was wondering what others thought.
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