Music: City on the Make: Made of steel

Friends since their early teens, the guys in City on the Make just can't seem to maintain a constant forward motion for their gutter-grime of a band. Actually, the fact that they've been friends so long is probably why they're still a band.

"We've never actually thought about not playing together," drummer Colin Stumbras said. "We just learn to adapt to different situations."

Among the "situations" already survived by the explosive quartet were singer Mike Massey's one-year college stint in Milwaukee. He also has been laid up for months from two knee-replacement surgeries, caused by a rare bone disorder called Stickler Syndrome.

The south Minneapolis natives -- ages 22 to 24 -- also say they are constantly struggling to make ends meet between school, work and music, a frequent theme in their workingman songs (even more so than Massey's pain, although that's there, too).

Then came the current stumbling block: Guitarist Mischa Kegan followed his longtime girlfriend to Chicago over the summer. His departure has forced long hiatuses from live performances for the self-described "up-home blues" band (as opposed to "downhome," i.e., one that's urban, northern, industrial). Their gig Saturday at the 400 Bar is their first locally in almost three months.

"We've been Yoko'd," Massey good-naturedly joked.

City on the Make has learned to adapt again. Talking two weekends ago at the two-story duplex they share right off Lake Street, the band's three remaining Minneapolitan members (including bassist Stephen Rowe) actually sounded optimistic about their current predicament.

"It sort of forced us to do something we've wanted to do, anyway, which was play less shows and focus more on writing," Stumbras said.

Massey said, "It's funny: We've been working together since we were kids, but we've never found one certain process of writing songs. So we're just finding new ways to do it now with Mischa in another city. It's not convenient, but it's been fun to experiment."

Experimentalism is at the core of City on the Make. The instrumental members have been jamming together since high school, when they had a little funk band. For years, they would meet on Tuesday nights with other musician friends and "just see what happened."

Massey, meanwhile, had a rap group in junior high called the People Eaters. (When his bandmates brought it up, he made a swift cutting motion across his neck.) Juvenile though it may have been, Massey's PE no doubt played a role in making him the unnerving, uncanny vocalist he's become. It sounds as if he's trying a little bit of a lot of different styles: Tom Waits' gritty howl, Craig Finn's stammering poetry, Muddy Waters' booming mojo and, yes, a wee bit of rap-like rhythmic patterns.

City on the Make has so far produced two very different CDs: an all-over-the-place 2007 full-length, "In the Name of Progress," and this year's leaner and meaner EP, "$1,000,000" (which includes the song "Million Bucks"). The EP opens with the fiery opus "Chicks on Bikes," which at once feels like a feel-good summer anthem and a grimy account of the underbelly of city life. The highlight of "Progress," meanwhile, is a steaming, hair-raising track called "Rustoleum Royal Blues," in which Massey maniacally bellows, "I'm in so damn much pain/ Sometimes I just can't stand the pain."

Asked about his disorder, Massey once again pointed to the upside: "I suppose it's taught me a little bit about life and gotten me to write more. Sitting in a hospital bed for days on end will get you so bored, you think up a lot of crazy ideas."

Amazingly, before and soon after his surgeries, Massey performed like a madman on stage -- jumping, stomping and flailing as the music dictated. Live shows are City on the Make's strongest suit (you can hear decent-quality live recordings of the band at www.archive.org).

Stumbras recalled, "We played a couple shows where he was still walking with a cane, and one time he got so wild the cane wound up in my lap behind the drum kit."

Once they reunite with Kegan, things are likely to be even wilder, Massey said. "We've always had an improvisational nature in how we played, so that will probably come out all the more now, for better or worse. We think it'll be better."

Sadly, you'd be hard-pressed to find Mint Condition on any of its hometown radio outlets besides community station KMOJ. But the local R&B vets are coming into tonight's homecoming gig at Trocaderos riding a wave of radio play elsewhere around the country for their breakup single, "Nothing Left to Say," from the "e-Life" album that came out this past spring. The track recently reached No. 31 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and made it No. 4 on the urban adult contemporary radio chart.

Tonight's show (9 p.m., $25-$30) will also feature local "American Idol" alum Paris Bennett, who has a new holiday CD to promote, "A Royal Christmas." Also look for Mint guitarist O'Dell at Saturday's 16th annual "Jimi Hendrix Remembered" tribute at the Cabooze, along with Michael Bland, Charles Fletcher, Jellybean Johnson, Julius Collins and many more (9 p.m., $10-$13).

Polara frontman and Flowers Studio owner Ed Ackerson is using tonight's Sussedtacular party (all acts from his label Susstones) to release his second solo album. Like his debut, "Ackerson2" is more acoustic and twangy than a Polara record but is still loaded with Brit-poppy melodies and lots of downbeat, soul-searcher songs. Ackerson played all the instruments himself but will have a team of players at tonight's party at the Varsity Theater, including Polara, the Mood Swings, Colonial Vipers Attack!, StrangeLights and Marc and Janey (8:30 p.m., $8-$10).

After six years of blowing around the Irish pubs and now many of the best music venues in town, the Van Morrison-covering Belfast Cowboys have clearly become more than just a fun gig for frontman Terry Walsh and his large-scale tribute band. To that end, the group is releasing its first CD, an eponymous collection featuring a few of Van the Man's best-known songs ("Domino," "Wild Night"), lots of lesser-known gems ("Redwood Tree," "Precious Time"), plus a so-called Minneapolis version of "Cleaning Windows."

At the same time, Walsh and sax man Vic Volare are putting out an all-original CD by their side group St. Dominic's Trio, titled "Switch" and featuring the full-blown sound of the Cowboys. The latter disc was produced by ex-Ol Yeller frontman Rich Mattson, whose new band the Tisdales opens the show to tout its own debut album, "Bakers Dozen." (9 p.m. Wed., First Avenue. $6-$8.)

After a decade or so dedicated to motherhood, Tyka Nelson -- Prince's sister -- will return to the stage Dec. 12 at Bunkers to promote a new band, The Word, and a CD called "Brand New Me." Tyka earned a favorable if not hit-sized reception for her 1998 record on Chrysalis Records, "Royal Blue," but only has released one other record (in 1992). ...

Rhymesayers has set a Feb. 3 release date for the third P.O.S. album, "Never Better," which I'm guessing is a bit of a facetious title. Things could indeed be better than ever on the road, as he's already booked for the entire Warped Tour. No doubt he'll preview some of the songs at the Doomtree Blowout IV (Dec. 6 at First Ave). ...

A cohort of some of the Rhymesayers rappers, Knonam ("no-name"), is one of 10 finalists in a new band competition at Loud.com. The local MC/DJ cuts and pastes a lot of '80s samples into his songs a la Girl Talk. Hear him at myspace.com/knonam. ...

Between Jeremy Ylvisaker's tours with Andrew Bird, Mike Lewis' dates with Happy Apple and J.T. Bates' gigs drumming for "Prairie Home" and about 50 other acts, shows by their experimental band Alpha Consumer have become rare. They're finally doing one Saturday at the Turf Club (10 p.m., $6), with Gospel Gossip and First Communion Afterparty, plus they're working on a record, tentatively titled "Kick Drugs Out of America." Sounds like a Sarah Palin quote.

chrisr@startribune.com • 612-673-4658