Minus Story - My Ion Tuss

Download: The Minus Story - "Stitch Me Up"

Minus Story
My Ion Tuss (Jagjaguwar, 2007)
Grade: B+

I picked up Minus Story's new album on a total whim: I knew they'd played with Deerhoof and Okkervil River, both of whom I like a whole lot. When I was listening to My Ion Truss in my office today, I found about halfway through that I was staring into space, completely absorbed by what I was hearing. This is a very, very, good record.

Minus Story rocks hard throughout the whole album. At a first listen, the record is very well put together, but doesn't sound like anything too remarkable for an indie-rock record. But as I listen to the record more and more, all the little subtleties and almost hidden instrumentals start to pop out. There's an art to placing a Nirvana-style guitar squeal in the right place or to turning on the fuzz so it doesn't overwhelm the rest of the band. And these guys have definitely mastered it.

On top of it, the whole record is just so solidly written. There isn't a song on My Ion Truss that will change the world (except for maybe "The Way Beyond," which has exactly perfect drums), but it is a record you can listen to from start to finish and feel like you've really heard something good and satisfying.

I have two gripes with this record. Singer Jordan Geiger has a tendency to get fucking melodramatic. It isn't distractingly bad, but on "Stitch Me Up" and "Battle of Our Lives," his nerdy drama almost reaches critical mass.

Secondly, I think this record would sound a lot cooler if it were a little light on production. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if that's a complaint or an endorsement of their live show. Most of the record is just fine, but there are moments on this record where a good lick gets buried under an inch of shellac.

But a good lick is still a good lick, and My Ion Tuss is full of them.

(April Wright)