Commander Venus

Commander Venus was an emo band fronted by a fourteen year old Conor Oberst, (currently making brilliant and heartbreaking sadcore as "Bright Eyes"). Their music is emotional but not singular, its been described as The Pixies meets Superchunk meets Pavement, with Sunny Day Real Estate, Seam, and Archers of Loaf thrown in. To me though, Commander Venus is intruiging as a look at the musician Oberst became: while at the time his lyricism is understandably underveloped, its creepy to listen to him sing the same jagged, hysterical vocals, except at an adolescently higher tenor.

Members:

• Conor Oberst- guitar, vocals
• Ben Armstrong- drums
• Robb Nabnsel- guitar
• Todd Baechle- bass

Commander Venus formed in 1994, when Oberst was in high school, and the other band members only a few years older. They cut classes to play gigs in and around Omaha, Nebraska. Its members formed their own record label, Saddle Creek Records, and released Do You Feel At Home? in 1995. For a time in the nineties, their local influence was such that independant groups around Omaha were called "Saddle Creek groups". In 1997 Comm. Venus released Uneventful Vacation on the Thick Recordings label. Commander Venus disbanded that year.

This indie-rock band was formed shortly before Oberst's freshman year of high school at Creighton Prep, and included Tim Kasher of Cursive and The Good Life, and Matt Bowen, who now plays for The Faint. Later, they were joined by Robb Nansel on guitar, who now runs Saddle Creek Records. Bowen eventually quit, followed by Kasher, and the band continued weakly for another 9 months with members Todd Baechle (of The Faint) and Ben Armstrong. The band broke up entirely after trouble with the overgeneral and over-connotated label of "emo" they received, and the general winding-downess nature of most high school bands. I am particularly fond of the song "My Other Car is a Spaceship" with the oh-so relatable and plaintive cries of "Why'd you lie to me? / The bitch, she lies to me."