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:
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.