Minus Story

  “Stitch Me Up” by Minus Story, from My Ion Truss (Jagjaguwar):

Give Minus Story a glockenspiel, and they'll make like Mozart for four bars. My Ion Truss, the Lawrence band's fourth release on Jagjaguwar, finds the crew further honing down its patented "Wall of Crap" approach to a Menu of Crap, becoming more selective and restrained in its use of noisemakers.

The instrumental side of Truss, with its swells and climactic drum grooves, gives lauded, all-instrumental rock group Explosions in the Sky a run for its dynamite. (Fittingly, Explosions producer John Congleton was at the helm on this album.) When it comes to the hands, Minus Story has dexterity to spare.

When it comes to the mouths, well, lead singer Jordan Geiger is not so in tune. His vocal parts seem arbitrary. He warbles like a thrush, repeating one of a few basic patterns in slight variations, often landing on the song's title: stitch me uh-ah-up ("Stitch Me Up"), the way be-aahnd ("The Way Beyond"). A notable exception is "Beast at My Side," in which Geiger wails in an unhinged, gospel-infused catharsis.

By the end of Ion Truss' 34 minutes, the band's name makes sense — it's music minus the story. Geiger and fellows make pretty music, but they should focus on the saying at least as much as the playing.