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For his second split release with fellow Omaha songwriter Joe Knapp (recording as Son, Ambulance), Bright Eyes mastermind Conor Oberst and his rotating crew of talented musicians proudly offer up four striking new originals. Contributing the same number of tracks, Son, Ambulance introduces a unique musical perspective as Knapp's jerky guitar and piano-based compositions float along with his lazy high-range vocals, producing a sound akin to more upbeat Belle & Sebastian recordings. The album opening "Brown Park" is an uplifting childlike ride, and Knapp's final submission of "Katie Come True" proves that he's nearly as talented as Oberst when it comes to pop songwriting. Bright Eyes' contributions are equally engaging, and again prove that a penchant for a bit of melodrama can be overlooked in the company of startling and confessional lyric writing. Backed by what may be his best band to date, Oberst's songs are brought to life with the help of producer Mike Mogis and flutist Jiha Lee, whose contributions are particularly transcendent on tracks like "Going for the Gold" and in the explosive resolution of "Kathy With a K's Song." Oh Holy Fools is a magnificent showcase of two uniquely gifted singer/songwriters, and if you're a fan of one it's almost safe to guarantee that the other will also blow you away.
~ Peter J. D'Angelo, All Music Guide
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This album contains the very first Bright Eyes song I ever heard: No Lies, Just Love. Its amazing. Do yourself a favor and listen to it.
Released toward the end of 2006, a year that was unusually quiet for the unusually prolific Conor Oberst, Noise Floor (Rarities 1998-2005) gathers up 16 odds and ends Bright Eyes has released in the past seven years. Those seven years saw Oberst rise from indie wunderkind to indie superstar, but Noise Floor doesn't trace that rise, nor does it offer a complete chronicle of rarities from that time. It's a collection of stray songs -- things released as singles or B-sides, things that have never appeared before -- and it feels that way, lacking the overall thematic purpose of either of his 2005 albums, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning or Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Those albums were ultimately genre exercises -- a country-rock record paired with a Postal Service indie pop record -- but this captures a less self-conscious Oberst, which is often a better Oberst. Not that this will change any doubters' minds -- his voice and lyrics remain acquired tastes, especially when paired to winding folk tunes -- but this actually showcases a greater musical and emotional range than I'm Wide Awake, even if it still can succumb to solipsism a little too often. The ballads remain a little turgid, but his cover of Spoon's "Spent on Rainy Days" has real venom and momentum, "Happy Birthday to Me" rambles by on a genuine weariness, his take on Jimmy LaValle's "Bad Blood" is Oberst at his classic lo-fi pop peak, and -- best of all -- the instrumental version of Matt Ward's "Seashell Tale" has a lightness of touch rarely found in his work. Such small but worthwhile revelations are often tucked away on rarities collections like this, and it's nice that Noise Floor emphasizes this side of Oberst, illustrating that when he's not trying too hard he's not half bad.
~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
A super group of sorts before they even realized it, Commander Venus was made up of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Tim Kasher (Cursive), Matt Bowen (the Faint), and Saddle Creek Records head Robb Nansel. In almost atypical form, the record sometimes sounds less like what the members later developed on their own and more like a slightly more emotional version of the Archers of Loaf. Oberst's often pained vocals do dominate the record, but even they are often pushed over the line towards more guttural screams. Kasher also throws in an impressive vocal yawp from time to time, and mixed with the surprisingly brutal guitar tones the band comes up with, the results represent some of the toughest material these boys from Omaha have come up with. The Uneventful Vacation does sound like a young band still perfecting their style, but in its sloppiness is a lot of its charm. Like Cap'n Jazz and other bands of soon to be indie stars, Commander Venus have a raw untamed energy and though it overextends itself from time to time; numbers like "Jeans TV" and the vocal trading "Lock'n'Chase" are filled with the kind of infectious rock that makes a band truly endearing. Fans of any of the member's later endeavors should find something to love on this record, and by the end, anyone who is a supporter of noisy emotional rock will probably find something on the LP that they can really appreciate. ~ Peter J. D'Angelo, All Music Guide
Barely into his first year of high school, Conor Oberst had other things on his mind rather than the pressures of who to ask out for homecoming, stupid jocks and weekly football games. Along with the slightly older Ben Armstrong (drums), Robb Nansel (guitar) and Todd Baechle (bass), Oberst got together Commander Venus in 1994 at the ripe age of 14 with himself on guitar and vocals. Cutting class and pep rallies for gigs in and around his native Omaha, Nebraska, Oberst and company got together some money, formed their own label Saddle Creek and put out their first album Do You Feel At Home? in 1995; lots of comparisons to Sunny Day Real Estate, Pavement, Pixies and Superchunk followed. Commander Venus' second album Uneventful Vacation came out two years later on Chicago's Thick Recordings.
~ Mike DaRonco, All Music Guide
