Acclaimed indie rock collective The Minus 5, spearheaded by Scott McCaughey (R.E.M.), return with Oar On, Penelope! out May 30 via Yep Roc Records. The album's first single, "Words & Birds," is accompanied by an animated video.
Of the song, Scott McCaughey offers: “‘It’s all too beautiful, man!’ If not original, that sentiment seems important to me, to this record, to my world. This came together after a few passes in the studio, and it sounds like we played it forever. That’s what can happen when you play music with good pals. Didn’t need to add anything except Debbi shouting along: ‘Those impossible wings / Messenger that bring / Inexplicable songs / Purple twilight and dawn...”’ (By the way, in a radical move — for those who know me — I purposefully decided to NOT put tambourine on every song. Luckily, Ed [Stasium] didn’t care and threw it on wherever it begged).”
Produced by Scott McCaughey and mixed by legendary engineer Ed Stasium (Smithereens, The Replacements, Ramones, Talking Heads), Oar On, Penelope! is The Minus 5’s first album of all-original material in five years and features Peter Buck (R.E.M.), Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Kurt Bloch (The Fastbacks), Linda Pitmon (Baseball Project, Filthy Friends), and Spencer Tweedy.
Throughout the 12-song collection, McCaughey delves into power pop, garage rock, Americana, psychedelia and more.
“The songs feel immediate, relatively unadorned, and somewhat more positive in an indescribable way,” says McCaughey. “The words could be termed stream-of-consciousness, which is nothing new from this sector, but there seems to be a ray of light fighting its way through the usual twisted tales.”
Over a four decade career, McCaughey has been a member of many bands, including R.E.M., Young Fresh Fellows, Baseball Project, and Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3. The Minus 5 has remained one of his most enduring projects.
Suffering a near-fatal stroke in 2017, it was under the The Minus 5 name that McCaughey put out the recordings of Stroke Manor, featuring the original songs that detail his recovery through music therapy.
Formed in 1993 by McCaughey, The Minus 5 has been known for an ever-changing lineup that has seen Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, The Decemberists, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, M. Ward, Chuck Prophet, Michael McCready of Pearl Jam, Alejandro Escovedo and others perform on the albums.
Tour Dates:
May 9 -13 – Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise – Miami, FL
June 1 – Pappy & Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA
June 3 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA
June 4 – The Chapel – San Francisco, CA
June 6 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
June 7 – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
Track listing:
1. Words & Birds
2. Death the Bludgeoner
3. Let the Rope Hold, Cassie Lee
4. I Don’t Want to Hate Anyone
5. The Garden of Arden
6. Last Hotel
7. Bison Queen
8. Falling Like Jets
9. Burgundy Suit
10. Blow in My Bag
11. Sharktooth
12. What Shall Not Be Released
George Paul
