In early 2017, Scott McCaughey was asked to write some holiday songs for a Monkees holiday album. He became so inspired by the task that he wrote more than an album’s worth of material and decided to record that album with his group, The Minus 5.

The resulting album, Dear December, brings yearly holiday cheer and a batch of original songs meant for singing, drinking, parties, and of course a few dismal sad songs too. The band has only gotten together to play these a few times before, so this is a rare opportunity to see them (and other appropriate or inappropriate Xmas tunes) performed LIVE.  This time around the band will be Scott, Casey Neill, Jenny Conlee, Jim Talstra, Paulie Pulvirenti, and possibly a few other punchbowl refugees.

"New Christmas Hymn" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yuqiZygJD8

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Sending Up Flares, the fourth record from Casey Neill & The Norway Rats, is the sound of a band rallying together, turning the genre-bending range of its influences into the group’s most cohesive, cathartic album yet. Created amidst chaos and uncertainty, these songs offer a lifeline to a world in need of balance, shot through with stories about resolve, resilience, wonder, and positive human interaction.

Those themes come together in the album’s cinematic title track, where Neill sings about a stranded motorist whose car breaks down in the middle of the night, seemingly far away from civilization. “The flares are shot off in hopes someone will come to help,” explains the frontman, who co-wrote the album’s songs with guitarist/producer Chet Lyster. “Upon climbing a hill to get some perspective, the lights of a massive metropolis unfold with countless flares being launched by other people who also need relief. It’s the same realization of the castaway in ‘Message in a Bottle’ — I’m not alone in being alone. It can work as a metaphor for mental health, addiction, alienation, or simply trying to be seen.”

With Sending Up Flares, Casey Neill & The Norway Rats don’t just make themselves seen; they make themselves heard, too. Each of the band’s previous albums explored the evolving range of Neill’s musical interests, from the dreamy Americana songs that filled 2010’s Goodbye to the Rank and File to the electronic textures that peppered 2018’s Subterrene (whose critically-acclaimed songs received praise from Rolling Stone and No Depression). Here, the Portland-based supergroup finds room for everything, turning a wealth of musical influences — including folk, punk, art-rock, atmospheric soundscapes, guitar freak-outs, and string arrangements — into something singular. “I love exploring all of the music I love,” says Neill, who even nods to artistic role models like David Bowie, author Ursula K. Le Guin, and filmmaker Wim Wenders in the song “Meteor Shower.” “Sending Up Flares feels like we’ve reached a point where the band has settled into a natural, nuanced place”, he adds. “This is who we are. It’s what we do.”