Add it up... add it up

Not since the heady days of Festival Express (that's the film site, the Apple trailer requires Quicktime) has the term "collective" been thrown around with such abandon. Amid the lesser and weirder lights of SXSW attendees Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Animal Collective, there's a superb underground supergroup that first deserves your attention: The Minus 5.


Fire when ready.

Led by Young Fresh Fellow Scott McCaughey of Seattle, backed by an all-Americana crew comprised of Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Peter Buck (REM, requires Flash), Colin Meloy (The Decembrists) -- and too many other collaborators to name -- the Minus 5 have just released The Gun Album (Yep Roc). The album is some manner of ode to John Lennon, whose composition "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is a touchstone for McCaughey. Most of the songs feature a jangly drive that splits the difference between cloying Beatles-like harmonies and slithering mod-rock guitar, ultimately cutting through the golden smog. Here's an NPR review (Windows Media).

The Minus 5 play a midnight show, March 16, at the Continental Club. Currently in the midst of a national tour with Robyn Hitchcock, after SXSW they will be joined by The Silos.