Minus 5/Young Fresh Fellows frontman Scott McCaughey has been blurring the distinction between his two bands for a while, to the point where many of the songs on either group’s LPs would be appropriate for the other. Both return this week with new efforts: the Minus 5’s Killingsworth and the Fellows’ I Think This Is. The tunes are more divergent, with Killingsworth featuring a heavy alt-country vibe and I Think This Is being a typically funny garage-pop workout. When he’s not fronting his own combos, McCaughey is a sideman for R.E.M. and Robyn Hitchcock, the latter of whom produced I Think This Is. McCaughey is guest-editing magnetmagazine.com this week. Read our Q&A with him.
McCaughey: Last month, I finally experienced Bonnaroo firsthand, if only for a day. I hope that counts. It seemed like quite a lot, actually. I managed to play a show (Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, introduced by Beatle Bob!), catch a good part of sterling sets by Alejandro Escovedo (pictured with me), Wilco, the Decemberists, Booker T And The Drive-By Truckers and Elvis Perkins. Even at that, I missed a lot I would have loved to see: Allen Toussaint, Jenny Lewis, Of Montreal, Elvis Costello. The lineup that day was phenomenal. You really needed to be four people to catch it all. I was all set to top the day off with Bruce “Thee Boss” Springsteen And His E-Street Shufflers, but overzealous main-stage guards, fatigue and the attraction of Patron and friends on Wilco’s bus conspired to make it an “audio-only” event. Also, I must say the pageantry of the festival-goers should not be underestimated; one of the great benefits of scurrying through the dust and/or mud from stage to stage is the spectacle you view on the way. All festivals by their very nature will provide unpleasantries, but Bonnaroo was a lot of fun—they seem to do it up right. They need more recycling bins, though. Video after the jump.
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