Minus Story’s debut record for Jagjaguwar from a year ago, The Captain is Dead, Let The Drum Corpse Dance, drew rave reviews and solidified the band’s standing as young sonic provacateurs on the brink of widespread notoriety, as fertile crafters of mystical melodies and harmonies that dig truly and deeply under your skin. Drawing from the spirit of The Captain is Dead… but looking unflinchingly towards the future, Minus Story have now created a new shorter work that will inspire the same kind of fervent (and sometimes hyperbolic) reaction as did their Jagjaguwar debut. Listening to the Heaven and Hell CDEP, one is left with absolutely no doubt that this band is special, that they are especially privy to the fundamentals of great music making, that they are becoming in more and more proximate league with the likes of Smile-era Beach Boys, Circulatory System and Neutral Milk Hotel. The first two songs on the CDEP are a couple of years old. The third and fourth songs are newer, the fourth (“Misery is a Ship”) being written just a week before recording occurred. Along with a Misfits cover and the recital of a “true” ghost story, these four Minus Story songs contained on the CDEP are about death in one way or another. Parts of this CDEP were alternately recorded in Lawrence, Kansas and Booneville, Missouri, as well as Bloomington, Indiana. Released March 1, 2005.
