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The Minus 5
The Minus 5 (left to right: Ramberg, Buck, Rieflin, McCaughey) perform at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia on April 1, 2006
Background information
Also known as	The Bison-Flavored Minus 5, The Minus Tad
Origin	United States
Years active	1993–present
Label(s)	Yep Rock
Associated acts	Mark Eitzel, Robyn Hitchcock, R.E.M., Tuatara, Wilco, Young Fresh Fellows
Website	www.minus5.com
Members
Peter Buck Scott McCaughey John Ramberg Bill Rieflin
Former members
Amy Allison, Jon Auer, Leroy Bach, Jay Bennett, Brian Berg, Eric Bennis, Peter Blackstock, Kurt Bloch, Dave Carter, Chris and Carla, Chris Belew, Mike Clark, Joe Cripps, Doc Dauer, Dennis Dikken, Ward Dotson, E, Mark Eitzel, John Fernandez, Jason Finn, Morgan Fisher, Tom Freund, Rebecca Gates, Jessy Green, Mark Greenberg, John Wesley Harding, Justin Harwood, Robyn Hitchcock, Kelly Hogan, Tad Hutchinson, Rami Jaffee, Tucker Jackson, Lenny Kaye, Tim Keegan, Kevn Kinney, Glenn Kotche, Jon Langford, Robert Lloyd, Roy Loney, Eric Lovre, Barrett Martin, Linda McRae, Jane McDonald, Christy McWilson, Mike Mills, John Moen, Sean Nelson, J. O'Rourke, Sue Orfield, The Paul Collins' Beat, The Possibilities, Andrew Rieger, John Roderick, Walter Salas-Humara, Jim Sangster, Skerik, Patti Smith, Britt Speakman, John Stirratt, Mike Stone, Ken Stringfellow, Jim Talstra, Carla Tongerson, Jeff Tweedy, Alex Veley, Manuel Versoza, John Whittemore, Morris Windsor, Cindy Wolfe, Wreckless Eric, Jon Wurster, Steve Wynn, Pete Yorn

The Minus 5 is an American rock band, headed by musician Scott McCaughey and featuring R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.

Formed in 1993, McCaughey designed the Minus 5 as a pop collective, with each record the group put out featuring a new lineup. Throughout these releases, he worked the most frequently with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, who was featured on the group's eponymous debut EP, which was only released through They Might Be Giants' mail-order record club, Hello CD of the Month Club in 1994.

Their full-length debut album Old Liquidator was released in 1995, and the Minus 5's lineup consisted of McCaughey, Buck, and Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. After releasing Old Liquidator on East Side Digital, the group reconvened in late 1996 to record their Hollywood Records debut, The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy, released the following spring. The same year, McCaughey's 1989 solo album My Chartreuse Opinion was reissued by Hollywood as a Minus 5 album.

In 2001, the Minus Five and the Young Fresh Fellows, another McCaughey project, released a split double album, Let the War Against Music Begin/Because We Hate You; the "Let the War Against Music Begin" half was the Minus 5 submission.

After a change of guard at Hollywood Records, the Minus 5 found themselves releasing music via independent channels, with the Return To Sender label releasing a collection of outtakes from Let The War Against Music Begin called I Don't Know Who I Am before McCaughey signed the band to the Yep Roc label for his collaboration with Wilco, Down With Wilco. Yep Roc later issued an EP dominated by Down With Wilco outtakes, At The Organ, and reissued In Rock, a collection of tunes McCaughey recorded in a single day in 2000.

In 2002, the band contributed a track, "Girl I Never Met" to Rami Jaffee, Pete Yorn, and Marc Dauer's Trampoline Records release: Trampoline Records Volume I.

The band's seventh album, self-titled (but known as The Gun Album), was released early 2006, and features, along the regular line-up, guest appearances by Wilco, Kelly Hogan and The Decemberists' singer/songwriter Colin Meloy, among others.

• Hello EP (CD) - Hello CD of the Month Club - 1994
• Old Liquidator (CD) - East Side Digital - 1995
• The Emperor of the Bathroom (CD) - East Side Digital - 1995
• The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy - Hollywood Records - 1997
• My Chartreuse Opinion (CD) - Hollywood Records - 1989/1997
• Let the War Against Music Begin (CD) - Mammoth Records - 2001
• I Don't Know Who I Am (Let the War Against Music Begin, Vol. 2) (CD) - Return to Sender - 2003
• Down with Wilco (CD) - Yep Roc - 2003
• In Rock (CD) - Yep Roc - 2004
• At the Organ (CD) - Yep Roc - 2004
• The Minus 5 (CD) - Yep Roc - 2006

• Official site.
• Trouser Press entry
• Fan site.