We at AvantTrash come from the Midwest. Nebraska, specifically. The dead center of the country. The Heartland. The Great Plains. Sound boring? It can be! (There’s a reason most of us fled to the big city besides the outstanding warrants.) But when there is an absence of “something to do”, you are afforded the unique opportunity to make your own good time. This is not a vacuum of creativity, it is a ground as fertile as the dirt beneath your feet. When you don’t have a venue for your band in the Midwest, you go underground…literally. Most bands I’ve ever been in came not from garages, but basements. Some of the best shows I’ve ever seen were subterranean.

There’s a house in Omaha that for the better part of 20 years has been a kind of artists commune. It’s parties are as notorious as it’s residents. Infamous even. It’s called Hotel Frank and this is the environment that Capgun Coup was borne from. Their new record Maudlin has that lazy lo-fi punk sound nailed. Each song on this album sounds like it could come from a different record. I guess that shows their flexibility as artists but cuts in a bit to the territory of the Black Lips and Jay Reatard, but a bit more sophisticated. So even at times a bit like a dirty, midwest Little Joy, but without all the cuteness.

Capgun Coup’s sophomore album Maudlin comes out TODAY and is the follow up to 2007’s Brought to You by Nebraskafish both albums are available for purchase via Conor Oberst*’s Team Love Records website.

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