Alex Riggen and Nick Pompou will perform their first public show as Murnau on Saturday at East Moline's Mixtapes, but the duo's ambitions are already clear.

Based in Morrison, Illinois, the band is named for the expressionist silent-film director F.W. Murnau (who made Nosferatu and Sunrise), and in addition to a trio of demos it has already recorded a score for the 1929 surrealistic classic short Un Chien Andalou as part of an EP with the single "We March on." The songs for a full-length have been written, the drums are recorded, and the album should be released next year, Riggen said last week.

"We've just always focused on recording and releasing ... to a wide audience [on the Web] rather than finding shows," he said. "We just like to write."

If all else fails, with the help of his trusty loop pedal Marty Jones could have a promising future as a one-man band. As the founder, primary songwriter, and conductor - who also handles vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards, additional percussion, sampling, and programming duties - of Silvis' X+X (spoken as "X Add X"), Jones (a.k.a. Heat) seems more than happy to take anyone willing to jam with him along for the musical ride. But he's ready to do it alone, if necessary.

When Rob Barber and Mary Pearson met in December 2005, they quickly struck up a friendship.

"We both thought of ourselves as pretty punk with what we were doing with our solo projects," Pearson said last week.

Just Tuesday morning we were able to confirm an exciting show that you're not going to have to wait for. Like the Ingrid Michaelson show about a month ago, this one is a last-minute affair, but you have a week to prepare instead of 24 hours.