* Lincoln Calling, a multi-night music festival held at several downtown Lincoln bars, is now taking applications for bands wanting to participate in the festival’s 10th anniversary run. Bands can apply online at lincolncalling.com. This year’s event will be held from October 15 through October 19th.
* Snake Island have released a new song, Apple Tel Aviv, which is set to be on their forthcoming as-yet untitled LP. The song and the LP both were recorded locally at Make Believe Studios and co-engineered by Jeremy Deaton and Rick Carson. The track is available for online streaming at soundcloud.com/makebelieverecordings.
* VietNam, the New York-based project headed by Michael Gerner, unfolded a vast tapestry of gritty city stories during their show at Slowdown, 729 North 14th St., last Friday, May 10th. The band’s impressive, but reserved backing of Gerner’s psychedelic blues folk rock gave a post-Velvet Underground drag to these tales that Gerner wove with a quick-stepping patter that hovered between singing and speaking. VietNam has nailed down the task of how to spread out songs without spreading out the song’s effects, though those who were already familiar with the band’s two albums probably found more bits to hang on to than those caught up in the druggy maelstrom for the first time.
* Twinsmith are also gearing up for the release of their self-titled debut album. The Omaha indie band will appear on Lincoln college radio station KRNU to premiere “Easy Thoughts”, the second new song off the forthcoming album. The first new Twinsmith track “Big Deal” can be heard at the band’s revamped website twinsmith.com.
* Stir Cove have added another pretty stellar edition to its summertime show lineup. California rock band Queens of the Stone Age will bring their latest iteration of stoner-rock/alternative rock to the outdoor stage next to Harrah’s Casino, 1 Harrah’s Boulevard in Council Bluffs, Sunday, August 4th. The band, led by Josh Homme, will release their sixth album, …Like Clockwork, Tuesday, June 4th on Matador Records.