The Minus 5 - At The Organ

Genre rock Publisher Yep Roc Records External Links Yep Roc Records

One of my all-time favorite songs is "Baraba Ann" by The Beach Boys. Not because of the lyrics or the melody, but because it's obvious that the band is having fun while recording the song. There's laughing in the background, especially when no one seems to remember the third verse. It's a wonderful display of people having fun making music, and if you can close your eyes, you kind of picture all of them sitting around, with big shit-eating grins as they play. This is the kind of music I like. After all, these people are rock stars; they have one of the coolest jobs ever, they should have fun doing it (note to Thom Yorke: not you, though. Stay alienated and weird).

That's why listening to the Minus 5's At The Organ is so much fun. The band is kind of a mini-rock supergroup with Mike Jorgensen, Peter Buck, and most of the members of Wilco. The ringleader here is Scott McCaughey, and as he runs his makeshift band through the seven songs which make up the disc, you can hear that the band is having a great time. Which is this album's saving grace.

A song like the opening number, "Lyrical Stance" is the perfect microcosm for the album. It's hard to believe that it took three men (Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Buck, and McCaughey are all credited for this song) to write a tune whose lyrics don't evolve much more than, "I've got a lyrical stance/Yeah yeah yeah yeah!" But it's a fun rocker, with Tweedy's scream recalling "Outta Site (Out Of Mind)" from Wilco's Being There. Is the song stupid? Absolutely. But is it fun? Indeed.

The rest of the lead vocals go to McCaughey, and the approach is pretty similar: silly lyrics over simple pop melodies. From the country knee-slapper of "Film Of The Movie," to the childish percussion-driven "One More Bottle To Go," the songs all leave you with a stupid grin. Sometimes, work like this is better left on the cutting room floor. But it's fun to take a little peek at musicians who obviously have fun and like to joke around with each other. This album is tremendously special in that way.