By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

After Conor Oberst wrapped up his bi-coastal “Conor and friends” residencies speculation began as to what’s next for Mr. Oberst. His musical output used to run in cycles between Bright Eyes, solo work, Desaparecidos and other projects (Monsters of Folk, Better Oblivion Community Center, etc.). Well, a couple clues sprung up in the past few days. 

First, there was a casting call on the official Bright Eyes Instagram account for volunteers to appear in a Bright Eyes video, apparently to be shot in or around Omaha on May 23 and 23. The posted graphic included three sets of dice and faux casino lights, which leads one to believe they’ll be shooting it somewhere over on the boats (our local slang for the Council Bluffs casinos). 

You had to be 19 or older (or with a legal guardian) and also sign an NDA. Well, as quickly as the offer went up, the offer was closed due to having received enough “entries.” Of course, people speculated that this is a pre-cursor to a new Bright Eyes release, but I suspect it may have something to do with a rerelease of older material. Time will tell.

And then this past Tuesday a press release went out announcing the release of a 15th anniversary reissue of the Monsters of Folk debut album. Monsters of Folk consisted of Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. 

First released in 2009, the rerelease includes the original 15-song album joined by five additional studio tracks from a previously unreleased 2012 session featuring “Fifth Monster” Will Johnson (Centro-matic).

From the press release: “Those five tracks – which include ‘Disappeared’ and the moody folk epic, ‘Museum Guard’ – were initially meant to accompany a dystopic sci-fi film based on a screenplay penned by Oberst, a project that was eventually shelved.”

A dystopic sci-fi film written by Conor? I would have loved to have seen that. And they could have shot it over on the boats and saved money on building dystopian-looking sets. 

The album drops June 14 on ATO Records and can be preordered here. Check out the Springsteen-esque newly release track, “Disappeared,” below. 

A Monsters of Folk tour to accompany this release would be pretty cool. So would new MofF material. Ah, but I’d still rather see that sci-fi movie. Come on, Conor!…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.