Band of the Week: Minus Story

Hometown: Lawrence, Kan.
Fun Fact: The title of the band's new album, My Ion Truss, is an anagram of "Minus Story."
Why It's Worth Watching: Psychedelic sounds and surreal lyrics combined with able pop songwriting distinguishes Minus Story from an ever-increasing pool of indie-rock talent.
For Fans Of: Modest Mouse, Smashing Pumpkins, The Flaming Lips

“I think we’ve gone about our recording career in an opposite way from what a lot of bands do,” says Minus Story singer Jordan Geiger. Although the group has been writing and releasing a steady stream of albums since its formation in 2000, My Ion Truss is its first effort that uses a professional studio and producer. With this release, Minus Story maintains its old formula, recording lavish productions with a variety of instruments from sleigh bells to saw while Geiger’s surreal vocals top it all off, but the opportunity to record in a less-haphazard manner makes this the band’s most-grounded album.

Although they're now spread out, the four original members of the band hail from Boonville, Mo., where they grew up together and were inspired by the Flaming Lips, Geiger says, “because they had friends who would record and friends as producers but still made these masterpieces in the studio.” This sense of community gave the group its focus and can be heard in the collaborative nature of its songs, where instruments weave in and out without ever taking control for longer than necessary. Even at its most complex moments, Minus Story always sounds like a group of friends playing music together for the pure joy of playing music together.

With the oversight of producer John Congleton (The Polyphonic Spree, Modest Mouse), the band attempted to do something new with My Ion Truss. While previous releases showed off how much Minus Story could do with its own recording equipment, the latest doesn’t use this opportunity to just tinker around with new studio toys. “We really pushed ourselves to record this album with all of us playing live in the studio,” Geiger says. “There was definitely thought about how we wanted to make it fun and energetic in a way that all our old songs would always turn after we went on tour.” Indeed, the album’s first proper track, “Aaron,” is faster and more raucous than anything the group’s done before, and though My Ion Truss features a variety of tones and tempos, the intensity it establishes from the get-go never fades.

My Ion Truss is Minus Story’s fifth album since signing with Jagjaguwar just three years ago, and though currently touring, the prolific group is already getting ready for the next release. “I’m just really driven to work on the project,” Geiger says. “I never finished college and I’m not particularly excited about my job, so this is what I do. [We are] always thinking about what we can do that’s bigger and better and more fun.”