Regional

“No wave” band U.S. Maple will perform at Gabe’s Oasis in Iowa City this Saturday night. They’ve been compared to such bands as Captain Beefheart and Sonic Youth for “organizing their music to be disorganized” and are expected to give an interesting performance, to say the least.

The group is a culmination of two Northern Illinois University bands. Drummer Pat Samson and guitarist Todd Rittman were in the Mercury Players, and guitarist Mark Shippy and vocalist Al Johnson were in Shorty, according to Centerstage Media.

U.S. Maple have three albums under their belt, the most recent being “Talker.” Last summer they had the opportunity to open a few shows for Pavement.

The Chicago band will be joined by The Race and Island Women at 9 p.m. Tickets are $6.

National

Before there was Pearl Jam, guitarist Mike McCready had a few musical endeavors of his own. At age 11, he began performing with Rick Friel, Danny Newcomb and Chris Friel, which eventually lead them to form a band called Warrior in 1978.

After a couple of years and a few changes, they changed their name and began touring as Shadow.

The group stayed together until 1988. McCready founded Pearl Jam soon thereafter, while Newcomb and the Friel brothers began playing as Goodness in 1994, later adding Carrie Akre to the line-up.

In 1999, the mentioned members of Goodness and Mike McCready reunited in Seattle, rekindling their youthful fire as The Rockfords.

On Feb. 1 they released their first, self-titled album.

The first single, “Silver Lining,” also appears on the soundtrack for the Freddie Prinze Jr. movie, “Down To You,” which is in stores now.

Clips of “Silver Lining” and the rest of the 12 track CD are available for listening at www.therockfords.com.

In further band reformation news, an all-star lineup of industrial musicians is joining forces as the Damage Manual.

Singer Chris Connelly of Ministry and the Revolting Cocks join bass player Jah Wobble (Public Image Limited, Invaders of the Heart), drummer Martin Atkins (PIL, Pigface, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry) and guitarist Geordie Walker (Killing Joke) to complete the lineup.

A Damage Manual spokesperson says the group isn’t industrial, but industrial-strength, using technology to enhance the music, rather than dominate it.

You’ll have to wait a few months to find out whether or not that’s true. Damage Manual’s yet-to-be-titled album debut is set for release on Invisible Records this June, according to Allstar News.

In addition, they will soon take off for a world tour, followed by stops in major U.S. cities and a full U.S. tour later this summer.