Sleep Study released their first album since 2012 last Friday night at the Uptown VFW. And when I say album, I mean album. They only released vinyl and download versions.

They are an interesting band. I have wanted to see them for a while but they were on a hiatus of sorts for the last couple years. Apparently at the end of 2014, they returned from a long tour, spending last 4 hours from Des Moines to the Cities with no heat in the car. They had just finished their (until now unreleased) second album. The plan was to take a short break for the holidays and return to their heavy gigging schedule.

But that quick break lasted longer than anticipated. Band members got involved with other projects and life went on until the 2016 election, when Ryan Plewacki found motivation to write again and the band resumed talks with Simon Recordings in 2018 about finally releasing their sophomore album, but wanted to take another crack at it in the studio. Plewacki, Justin Hartke, and Michael Gunvalson spent a hurried weekend tracking with engineer Bryan Hanna and Plewacki finished the project in his home studio.

It was worth the wait. They are like the band you see playing the cool club scene a movie. The music is catchy, like pop music but there’s something cooler about it. Something feels deeper. And it could be the cool band from nearly any era.

The staccato vocals have a very 60s or 70s vibe, especially in a song like Party in Here or Modern Man. The string forward sound falls more retro more album than live. Live it’s more rocking with the players feeding off each other and clearly having a good time. Ms. America has such a twangy sound but in a British way. It’s hard to peg down the sound. There are some very space age sound moments like the echoes in Counting Our Favors.

Although they are from Minnesota, there is a British undercurrent in many of the songs. Sometimes that feels like the Beatles; sometimes Stone Roses. There’s a common thread but part of the fun is the ability to defy era.

It feels like they play what they like – unabashedly. And it works. The set up of the night mirrors that sentiment. A strange but tasty buffet of sound. They started with the Black Widows, a solid garage sound and feminist flare behind the black mascara. Loud, retro, punk. Followed by Farewell Milwaukee, also enjoyable but much more mellow sound. With an ethereal wispy sound of the early 70s, like Sleep Study. A fun, different show.

Drone not Drones is an annual (6 years!) fundraiser held for Doctors without Borders at the Cedar Cultural Center. Luke Heiken is the brain and brawn behind it all – although I think he gets a lot of help from friends, musicians and the folks at the Cedar. It is 24+ hours of drone music. Not music made by drones, as several people have asked me but music with a hum or drone sound to it.

The bands change about every 30 minutes. My favorite part of the show is the changeovers. One band is playing the next one sets up. They play together for a minute or two and the first band sets down. The drone continues throughout.

The music is varied. It’s ambient, it’s aggressive, it’s synthesized, it’s vocals (in different languages), it’s instrumental. Sometimes there’s a performance element, although less so this year than previous. There is a screen going throughout with what I can only call groovy images throughout. I was there for about 12 hours total – most during the first night.

Many people bring their sleeping bags. It’s like an indoor camping ground with way better bathrooms. Some people bring kids. I think that must be such a fun night for them running around the grownups in sleeping bags. There’s a bar and food but it’s not a big boozy event for the most part. It’s really the community-personification of chill. And each year it grows. The room as at least three-quarters full the whole time I was there. And often felt too cozy, in a good way.

I tried to get 30 seconds of each band I saw to give a flavor. I’ve done my best to label correctly, but if there was a change in the schedule, I’m wrong and I could be wrong regardless but it does give you the idea.

You can also get the full schedule or watch the full show.

It’s all polish and professionalism with Six Mile Grove on stage. One song to the next with just enough banter to keep it interesting. The songs are so finished and band is on top of everything. Little wonder, since they have been playing together for 20 years. They brought all of their following down to the Hook & Ladder to celebrate the release of their most recent album, Million Birds. It is the first album that they recorded together in one room.

They opened up with an older song, Man of Steel. It’s a great opener. The song gets faster and faster, building an excitement for the show. The drums are holding down the beat of the songs but the strings really take off at the end. Then they moved right onto Shame on Us, from the new release. It’s got the definite country twang. The pedal steel is perfect for it. There are songs that feel more rock and country but that pedal steel brings all back to the Americana side of town.

The band has an interesting story. They played for many years with Bob Wootton, Johnny Cash’s guitarist. There’s an evident impact of playing with someone who is such a legend especially seen in how they took on that old school polish. Play well, play hard and look like you’re having a good time doing it. It’s very appealing. The other comparison I’ve heard to them that I think rings true is Jason Isbell. Their songs are about family life and the good, bad and wistful of family life but generally very upbeat and uplifting.

Not My Fault has a very popular feel. Perhaps given the sentiment of the phrase but also the ease of beat. Damned If I Do is a slower, sweeter song that touches a chord.

Everyone should end their year bobbing and weaving to The Big Wu. A jam band that goes back to the early 90s, they slowed down for a while to have families and pursue other passions and now much to the delight of their fans they are back with the first album in 14 years – We are Young. We are Old. They introduced the new album at the Fine Line on Saturday night, including a bunch of old some school favorites as well. It felt like a festival or all ages college campus. OK – maybe like parents’ weekend on the college campus if the school was smart enough to have a band such as The Big Wu to tears down the generational recreation walls.

They played a few of my favorites such as Red Sneakers. Live it’s the ultimate jam song – so many strings on stage, so many solos. You can just feel every person in the audience imagining themselves on stage taking their turn with a solo. It’s not a jealousy; it’s an optimism. Again, that is part of what makes The Big Wu such a great end/start of the year show.

They played We Are Trees from the new CD. There’s a levity to the song that raises it to almost anthem heights. There’s a great balance of guitars, bass, keyboard and drums. It’s like an awesome stew where all of the food is flavorful and the mix is just perfect. And the audience seemed to love it.

Finally I have to mention Tom Sawyer. They play a terrific version of that song. The keyboard is very 70s space age sounding. Mark Jospeh sings accompanied by every single person in the building – smiling and singing.