The paradox of
Scott McCaughey is he's a great and valuable sideman, as he's shown on his projects with
R.E.M.,
John Wesley Harding,
the Jayhawks,
Alejandro Escovedo,
M. Ward, and many more. However, let him write the songs and suddenly the music becomes unquestionably his.
The No Ones is supposed to be a collaboration between
McCaughey, his best friend and
R.E.M. boss
Peter Buck, and
Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and
Frode Stromstad of the Norwegian band
I Was a King. However,
McCaughey became the main songwriter for their second album, 2023's
My Best Evil Friend, and in his hands it became a loose concept album about the music that had made a difference in his life, both past and present.
McCaughey recalls a radio station he loved in his youth ("KLIV"), life-changing concerts ("One Night at the Fillmore"), friends and heroes who've passed on ("304 Molino Way" and "Phil Ochs Is Dead"), the idiosyncrasies of great, obscure singles ("Cameo Parkway"), and imagining the afterlife as a get-together following a big show ("The After Party"). The scrappy rock & roll edge of the first
No Ones album, 2020's
The Great Lost No Ones Album, has been turned down a bit, perhaps a consequence of most of this album being recorded with
Mathisen and
Stromstad in Oslo and
McCaughey and
Buck in Portland, Oregon, with files being passed back and forth. Most of these songs are midtempo guitar-fueled pop, evocative in their moody jangle and somehow playful and somber at the same time, more so than one might expect from the man whose work with
the Young Fresh Fellows and
the Minus 5 has been so full of wit. Despite being created in a virtual environment,
Buck and
Stromstad turn out to be a symbiotic guitar team,
McCaughey on bass and
Mathisen on drums are a tasteful rhythm section, and they had the good sense to get some friends to contribute to the project, including
Norman Blake of
Teenage Fanclub,
Debbie Peterson of
the Bangles,
Victor Krummenacher of
Camper Van Beethoven, and
Ben Gibbard of
Death Cab for Cutie. So is this a band album from
the No Ones, or a
Scott McCaughey LP with a lot of notable guest stars? In the long run, it hardly matters --
My Best Evil Friend is a great album informed by the love and power of music, made by people in thrall to its magic, and if you've ever liked anything by any of the participants, chances are excellent this is something you'll enjoy. [
My Best Evil Friend was released in two versions, 12 songs on CD and in digital formats, and 18 songs on a two-LP vinyl set.] ~ Mark Deming
![Javelin [Turquoise Vinyl] [B&N Exclusive]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0729920166206_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Javelin [Turquoise Vinyl] [B&N Exclusive]")
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