eels, The M’s, Makeshifte, Ohmega Watts, Panic! At The Disco

EELS
Misery loves company, and the L.A.-based group Eels. The band is really the project of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist E (Mark Oliver Everett). Everett’s twisted features, sensible haircut and thick-rimmed glasses allowed him to blend right in with the Rivers Cuomo motif in the mid-’90s. His only brush with the mainstream, the charming and pessimistic single “Novocain for the Soul”, surfaced after he and bandmates Tommy Walter and Butch Norton signed to the DreamWorks label and recorded 1996’s Beautiful Freak. After the loss of Walter, as well as the death of E’s mother and sister shortly thereafter, Eels were on a temporary lull. Yet since 2000, a newly manic E has created an Eels Orchestra, put out a live disc (Electro-Shock Blues Show), birthed a possible electronic alter-ego (MC Honky) and released a grandiose double-album last year aptly named Blinking Lights and Other Revelations — furthering the theory that he may not be from this planet. (Friday, 2:30-3:30, Bud Light Stage) –text: Gina Pantone–photo: Niels Alpert

THE M’S
Having just finished a Canadian tour with fellow Chicagoans Wilco, you’d suspect that the M’s might want to sit back and bask in their success. You’d be wrong, though, because slowing down isn’t in this band’s vocabulary. It’s not uncommon for the M’s to perform 15 shows in as many days, taking time out only for the occasional recording session or, more recently, for contributing a song to Fox’s guilty pleasure, “The O.C.” The M’s, like one of their inspirations the Kinks, have made their name playing head-bobbing, wry, literate rock. The band’s second LP, Future Women (released back in February), shows both the band’s quest for pop greatness and its lack of fear, combining everything from garage rock to lush arrangements in stellar tunes such as “Mansion in the Valley” and “Underground.” Even in their rare missteps, the M’s can be forgiven because of their exuberance and determination. (Friday, 2:15-3:00, AMD Stage) –text: Sara Farr

MAKESHIFTE
San Diego’s Makeshifte is the epitome of teenage pop punk rock. Mikey Beasley has a killer voice, especially when he screams. The lyrics are simple and catchy, the guitar hooks are charming and the drums are loud and driving. I can’t imagine their live show being boring with how much energy this band exudes, but I can’t imagine it being mind-blowing either. (Friday, 1:45-2:30, BMI Stage) –text: Sharyn Goldyn–photo: Randall Shreve

OHMEGA WATTS
A one-man band with a timeless true school hip hop sound, Ohmega Watts deserves to be mentioned when discussing the best MC/producers in the game. His crisp soul-funk beats take advantage of both live instrumentation and studio trickery. By adding the crafty vocals Ohmega and his guests provide, he’s able to achieve new takes on musical themes from hip hop’s golden era. His distinct sound brings a lively bounce not often found these days. (Friday, 2:15-3:00, PlayStation Stage) –text: Noah Levine–photo: Jeff Bender

PANIC! AT THE DISCO
Say what you will about bubble gum pop music; it never really goes away. You can tart it up with all the trendiest haircuts and enough eyeliner to make it look like an overgrown raccoon, but if the music isn’t any good, it won’t fool anyone. If all you knew of Las Vegas was gambling and Elvis Presley impersonators, then The Killers certainly changed the conversation when they hit the scene two years ago (and headlined last year’s Lollapalooza). Vegas is once again represented in this year’s lineup with Panic! At The Disco. The 4-piece is already a fixture among the MTV crowd (or those who can still spot a music video on the channel) and their debut album A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out is making plenty of noise. Well, noise to some…complete hotness to others. (Friday, 2:30-3:30, AT&T Stage) –text: Chris Castaneda

Cat Power, The M’s, Meat Beat Manifesto, Wolf Eyes

CAT POWER
Chan Marshall’s sixth album, The Greatest, opens with the swelling title track reminiscent of ” Moon River” — demonstrating Marshall’s ability to evoke raw emotion. The rest of the album falls chiefly into the genre of Memphis soul, with her sultry voice singing shoo bop on “Lived in Bars” and delving into blues territory with “Willie.” Cat Power has come a long way since her debut album a decade ago, Dear Sir, and its PJ Harvey-esque quality. Her breakout came three years ago with You Are Free, a dense, sometimes dark and personal album with narratives on Kurt Cobain and being free. Often in concert, Marshall has been known to run off stage in tears and can give quite an inconsistent performance. Despite her schizophrenic behavior onstage, Cat Power is a force to be reckoned with and still one of the most significant singer/songwriters in the indie realm today. (Appearing with The Memphis Rhythm Band at the Vic on Feb. 26) –text: Garin Pirnia–photo: Stefano Giovannini

THE M’S
To write off The M’s as just another revival act would represent a failure of proper accreditation. To the untrained ear, one might feel catapulted back to the British Invasion bands with similar slinky melodies and gangy vocals, yet The M’s bring their noise to a new level by adding influences of R&B and early rock ‘n’ roll riffs. Their much-anticipated second release, Future Women, comes out this month on new label Polyvinyl and projects the band to a higher level of intelligent rock — laden with heavy toe-tapping beats, swirling guitar riffs and tight, flawless vocals built in a package of euphoric power-pop. While some are quick to clump The M’s with other so-called revivalists, the band’s ability to both channel early rock influences while adding a modern spin to the mix should earn Future Women and The M’s plenty of recognition. (Appearing with Archer Prewitt at Empty Bottle on Feb. 24) –text: Jyn Radakovits–photo: Chris Strong

MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO
The backbone of Meat Beat Manifesto is England-born, San Fran-based beatmaker Jack Dangers. Known for influencing generations of sound purveyors as a remix guru, producer and soundman, he has worked with the likes of Public Enemy, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and David Byrne. His song “Prime Audio Soup” was even featured on the soundtrack for The Matrix. Meat Beat, revered for taking beats to another level in person and for integrating a plethora of additional samples into live shows, offers industrial, get-down-able, noise-collage-tinged madness. It’s techno, groove, synth, electronic, and, lately, has even slouched both toward and away from jazz — remaining its own well-heard falconer while still adhering to the dancefloor roots that have always drawn in and kept its fans moving. (Appearing at Abbey Pub on Feb. 28) –text: Michelle C. Liffick–photo: Peter Ellenby

WOLF EYES
If Hell had a soundtrack, Wolf Eyes would be it. The Ann Arbor-area group comes armed with a battery of noise-making equipment and homemade instruments ready to construct the most unpleasant set of sounds a baffled audience could ever hope to hear. Their violent eruption of electronic savagery is amazingly crafted and flawless in its abrasive tracks that float into each other and, despite the inability to sing along with it, listeners leave the CD with a sense of empowerment. Overwhelming darkness fills each track, creating a soundscape that would better suit The Texas Chainsaw Massacre than your local venue, but bleak bits of light manage to slide through the cracks. While critics agree that their eardrum-splitting screeches, bangs and macabre grinding teeters on the brink of musical insanity — and while Wolf Eyes may simply scare the shit out of you — they leave you yearning for more, even as each track chips a little bit away from your soul. (Appearing at Empty Bottle on Feb. 25) –text: Jyn Radakovits–photo: Doug Coombe

The M’s

We want to be all over the place and blow up on our own merits, not simply because we are cute or ugly or because we wear the right pants or strum two guitars.

story by Charley Rogulewski

I would be pretty nervous if I were Chicago-based quartet The M’s. Having to follow up on a highly-acclaimed debut album, absorbing comparisons to ’60s rock icons, coming back alive from your first official tour, and having to find your own place in a garage-rock scene already overcrowded with “the” archetypes would probably ignite great trepidation deep within my soul. But The M’s Josh Chicione’s voice doesn’t have a hint of fear in it as he explains his intentions for living up to all the hype.

“For us, we want to make as many records as we can in a short of amount of time. We want to be all over the place and blow up on our own merits, not simply because we are cute or ugly or because we wear the right pants or strum two guitars. Everything is out of our control. The only thing that we can control is the record we put out.”

It has taken four years for guitarist/keyboardist Chicione, guitarist Robert Hicks, bassist Joey King, and drummer Steve Versaw to steer toward this point in The M’s musicology. Before forming in 2000, The M’s were cartwheeling through random jobs and stints in other bands. In 2002, they released a four-song EP that attracted the eardrums of Brilliante Records, leading to a full-length album release on the label earlier this year. The M’s self-titled record is old-fashioned rock and roll whine with precise beats and an opus of guitar strumming. Vocal harmonies from all four members amp and layer each track. The M’s leave you biting your fingernails for what their sophomore release will prove of them, either really lucky or really talented. And it doesn’t end there, because what The M’s put on record is only a fraction of what they can do on stage.

“The way we play live is definitely different than the recordings,” confides Chicione. “Our music gets everybody bumping their head and having fun. It does it in front of people we have never seen in our lives. When that happens, it’s completely rewarding. You go up on stage and do that a couple of times and you have no fear. So, if you ask me if I am scared or apprehensive…no, I’m not because what we do…it plays. People can like it and they can not like it. But they can’t deny that we know what we are doing and we are good at it.”

Damn good at it, I might add. And not “damn” in the sense of “damn that fat dude eating a bucket of KFC in his Ford Tempo who just cut me off again,” but as in “damn! Check out that hot chick’s ass” damn. There is quite a difference you know…

The M’s :: with Natural History :: Empty Bottle :: October 7.