photo credit: Brent LaRueThe members of Capgun Coup, Sam Martin, Greg Elsasser, Eric Ohlsson and Andy Matz, are not the most well-versed students of rock music, and so their debut album, Nebraskafish, demonstrates a refined sonic schizophrenia.The story starts three years ago in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, where Elsasser and Martin began playing music together. Mutual boredom and an interest in avant noise would fuel the duo’s early collaborations, but after a move downtown and after the addition of two members (Matz on bass and Ohlsson on drums), Capgun Coup became less interested in white noise, and completely enamored with pop.

The result is an album that is as much an homage to basement shows and house parties as it is to the indie pop tradition. The rich interplay between Elsasser’s spacey noise samples and Martin’s pop sensibility creates a backbone and organization that has only been solidified with the addition of Ohlsson and Matz.

Nebraskafish, recorded over twelve months in the band’s home city of Omaha is a snapshot of Capgun’s evolution from early minimal folk (”Oh My Mod”) to darker, more atmospheric pieces (such as “Social Security Number”). According to Martin and Elsasser, the album is an attempt to “tie the last two years of songwriting together … it’s music meant to be heard in a close setting with friends.” Preferably a hundred of them, all dancing, in a sweaty, musty basement. Just don’t
request a Minutemen cover.