During its decade-long existence, the Minus 5 has frequently tipped its bowler at classic tunesmiths, appearing on tribute albums to John Lennon, Skip Spence, Paul McCartney, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry, and the Kinks. So it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that M5 songwriter Scott McCaughey is a walking jukebox.
The Young Fresh Fellows leader and R.E.M. utility man displays his chameleonic gifts on In Rock, originally a privately-issued 2000 album but now expanded to include tracks recorded in late ’03. Joined by M5ers Pete Buck, John Ramberg and Bill Rieflin plus guests including John Wesley Harding and Kurt Bloch, he creates beautiful chaos.
The platter opens with the delicately titled psycho-surf instrumental “Bambi Molester”. But before you can gulp “cowabunga,” you’re swimming in new-wavey power-pop (the Elvis Costello-meets Plimsouls “Courage Is The Smallest Bird”), ’70s greasepaint glam (the Mott The Hoople-ish “The Forgotten Fridays” and the throbalicious anthem “Cosmic Jive”, which channels Roy Wood’s Wizzard, and garagey swamp-pop (“The Night Chicago Died Again”, a laugh-out-loud hilarious number that namechecks assorted Windy City icons ranging from the late Lounge Ax nightclub to members of the actual band Chicago).
Neither as lush and studied as 2003’s celebrated Down With Wilco nor as dark and experimental as I Don’t Know Who I Am (outtakes from 2000’s Let The War Against Music Begin issued last year by Return To Sender), In Rock is an elastic-limbed beast to behold, leapfrogging across eras and genres with a devilish profligacy. The only thing missing is a Deep Purple sendup.