The Minus Five Down With Wilco (Yep Roc/Outside) Rating: NNN Rating: NNN
A title like Down With Wilco might give you the impression that the Minus Five’s Scott McCaughey is another one of Jeff Tweedy’s disgruntled former employees. Actually, Tweedy and his current Wilco underlings join the supergroup’s regulars McCaughey, Peter Buck and Ken Stringfellow to pretend they’re a British invasion group for a fantasy band session. Funnily enough, tunes like Daggers Drawn, The Days Of Wine And Booze, I’m Not Bitter, Dear Employer and The Old Plantation could all be seen as being part of a song cycle inspired by Wilco’s sordid intra-band politics. The ambient noise and vocal filtering gimmicks added as an afterthought to sound adventurous are just annoying, but fortunately the songwriting is strong enough to withstand the foolery.
