Monday night? Just another night for a show this summer, as the newly reintroduced Public Space One will open its doors and welcome you to its friendly confines. Joining us this time will be Californians El Olio Wolof, a quintet whose lengthy style of songwriting evokes some hybrid form of the Decemberists (without any prog leanings) and Okkervil River (without that Will Sheff croon). El Olio Wolof make pop songs, yes, but they also make pop tales: “I went to my closet the other night, guess what I saw / A fire-breathing dragon must’ve stood, thirty feet tall / I invited her for lunch but I, first asked my Ma / She said, “Okay just this once, Melvin, but don’t tell your Pa.” This world in which El Olio Wolof resides has been compared to the poetry of Shel Silverstein, and rightfully so. It’s the world where fantasy meets the suburbs on the backbone of pop music. Through it all an intoxicating accordion drones and the songs unfold like strip malls. They invite you to join them Monday night, July 7 at PS1 in downtown Iowa City at 115 East Washington Street. Joining them will be Michael Morris, who played Mission Creek earlier this year, and local songwriter Amanda Crosby.
Remember, July 7: doors are at 8pm, $3.
Download: El Olio Wolof - Apathetic Apple
So, some people are going to be in 
Ah, Independence Day weekend…a celebration of our nation’s coming of age. When I was younger this meant trips to our beach house, spending time with family, fireworks, and the like. As I’ve aged, it’s come to mean something more like drinking heavily with friends. The spirit hasn’t really changed. Something vaguely patriotic about overcoming tyranny, or something…anyway, this year is a special cause for celebration as we’ll be headed west to enjoy ourselves at the inaugural 
It’s hard to imagine being an Iowan and missing out on Des Moines’ inaugural 
This week’s best show happens like, um, tomorrow. Tuesday is the new Awesome. F Yeah Fest rolls into the Mill at 8PM Tuesday night. It’s a festival all in one night, a huge explosion of indie rock, dance music, and comedy. The lineup is pretty incredible. We’ll break it down for ya…
Just when I thought I knew what to expect at a “noise show,” the fine folks performing at the Picador on Saturday night, threw me a 
I love watching country music videos when I’m hungover. Besides the really schlocky and profit-driven-patriotism that is a sad sub-genre of contemporary country, by and large country music videos are awesome: dynamic acting, melodramatic and rousing score, beautiful acoustic guitars, and really great storylines. Because with country, you really have to feel; whereas in indie rock you can sing about butterflies or old movies or your own fragmented urban existence, in country, you sing about life and death and love and heartbreak. By definition, country music is narrative music, and while at the beginning of country music videos that little text box tells you who the director is, at the end it tells you who the songwriter is. Because that’s really what it all comes back to in country music: the songwriter. And Lucinda Williams, first and foremost, is a fucking brilliant songwriter.
