If the buzz at the O'Jeez show last Sunday (Dec. 21) at Minneapolis's 400 Bar is any indicator, 1998 is already looking like a big year for The Twin Cities' music scene. To begin with, O'Jeez drummer Dave Pirner announced from the stage that his other band, Soul Asylum has finally finished work on their much delayed follow-up to 1995's Let Your Dim Light Shine. He alsograced the audience with acoustic versions of two of its tracks, "Close" and "Blackout."
Among the other highly anticipated projects of '98 is the forthcoming Golden Smog album. In addition to O'Jeez's Kraig Johnson on bass and Jessy Greene on violin, the Smog's current lineup includes Soul Asylum's Dan Murphy, Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Marc Perlman, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, and Big Star's Jody Stephens. The band finished initial recording for the album last January at Ardent studios in Memphis, but little has been heard of the project since then. Johnson revealed that the band plans to reunite and finish recording sometime shortly after the first of the year. That album, like Soul Asylum's, should hit the streets in '98, though no label has been announced yet.
As for his longtime band Run Westy Run, Johnson declared it his "New Year's resolution" to release a new Westies' album in '98. This would be the band's first since 1994's self released Cockroach Park.
So what about the O'Jeez themselves? According to Greene, the fledgling band has already managed to knock out 10 songs in a New Orleans studio, and plans to lay down some more tracks in the near future for possible release next year, but that's as specific as she could get. As a matter of fact, a lack of concrete plans seems to be at the band's heart. In her own words: "Part of the beauty is that we don't have a plan. We love being around together. It's kind of like a vacation."
-Bill Snyder http://allstarmag.com/news/