Commitment-free rock 'n' roll

It's the rock 'n' roll answer to intramural softball: A group of 25 "very adequate" musicians get together once a year and split up into teams (bands) that will only last for six months. They also drink a little beer and have a lot of fun along the way.

The league, shall we call it, goes by the name Six Months to Live -- the "Live" is pronounced like "live band" -- and its 180-day season comes to an end tonight at the Triple Rock, when the five 2008-'09 groups have their one and only gig.

"I think one of the things that makes this great is there is only one show, so it's all or nothing," said Josh Gunderson, co-creator and a member (for one more day) of the twang-rock duo Blood County

This year's other 6ML participants include a hair-metal act called MegaMuff, a classic country outfit named Dirty Mountain and a straight-up, Replacements-style bar band known as Mr. Butter. Previous years produced one group that put on a fake TV game show and another that reinterpreted Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma." Because the acts are short-lived, the participants tend to shrug off coolness and go for whatever sounds fun.

The original idea for Six Months to Live came up in 2005 as a group of loosely tied musical acquaintances were entering their 30s and starting families but didn't want to give up the fun of playing in bands.

"It sort of grew out of the frustration we all had playing in local bands, where you'd spend all this time working up one album and then wind up breaking up," recalled Gunderson.

In these cases, the bands' break-ups are all planned from the get-go. The musicians -- mostly men, but women certainly are welcome -- meet at the start of the six-month tenure for what's called The Draft, which involves a marker board and a bit of networking (i.e., "Who's up for a hair band this year?"). Once the lineups are set, the individual units get together twice a month to rehearse. Some practice more often, but that's sort of missing the point.

Sunset on Soundset '09 "The best day of the year."

That's how P.O.S. concisely described Soundset as he tooled around backstage on his skateboard following his performance Sunday at the second annual festival, and he wasn't just talking about it being a good day for him or his label, Rhymesayers. He meant for the local indie-rap scene as a whole, whose vitality was confirmed when 15,000 fans showed up at Canterbury Park, 3,000 more than last year's Soundset at the Dome. The turnout was so great that organizers had to run to a nearby Wal-Mart to stock up on bottled water. At this rate, anything under 20,000 will be a disappointment next year.

Mules kick some ... While they frequent the clubs where all the hipster indie-rock acts play, the Rockford Mules have always struck me as the kind of everyman hard-rock band that would go over equally well at a NASCAR tailgating party or fishing tournament. My suspicions are confirmed with their second album, "From Devil's Spit to Angel Tears," a manly, meaty, big and bouncy opus that they're promoting Saturday at the Uptown (10 p.m., $5).

The quartet's slide-guitar-laden, vaguely twangy style was amped up in the studio to rip-roaring velocity, and frontman Erik Tasa has developed a cool rock-starry voice that sounds like Ace Frehley singing in a cow-punk band. Tracks range from the hyper-hammering "Step Aside, Son" -- equal parts Queens of the Stone Age and Supersuckers -- to "Redditch Redeye," which builds from a Ted Nugent-ish anthemic rocker into an arty metal epic. Seriously, I think Slash and Jack White should co-produce these dudes' next album.

Random mix Store-clerks-turned-owners Auralee Likes and Julie Wellman didn't have to go far to find someone to take over Hymie's Vintage Records: They sold the beloved shop to Laura and Dave Hoenack, who live just five blocks away in the Longfellow neighborhood. The couple say they will make a few improvements but mostly keep the 22-year-old store as is. They're offering 10 percent off all sales this weekend. ...

With a haunting but harmonious voice à la Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold and a Nick Drake/Elliott Smith acoustic style, Minneapolis folkie Brad Senne could well be on his way to an indie buzz with his third album, "Aerial Views," recorded with Ben Durrant and on tap for tonight's CD party at the Kitty Cat Klub (10 p.m., $5). ...

Twang-rockers High on Stress are back from a break brought on by the birth of frontman Nick Leet's son. They're playing tonight at 7th Street Entry with the Glad Version and Mood Swings (9 p.m., $6.) ... Thanks to his continuing guitar-playing duties in Atmosphere, Nate Collis' own gritty group Attracted to Gods also has its first show in a few months tonight at the Triple Rock, opening for Casanatra (10 p.m., $6). And no, the band name has nothing to do with touring with Slug.

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