They vote yes

NEBRASKA five-piece Cursive has been slowly carving out a niche in the emo landscape with songs chronicling various plagues of the mind. Tortured relationships, artistic credibility, fame, fallibility -- such de rigueur subjects have come to be expected from the group, whose cello-accented indie masterpiece, “The Ugly Organ,” landed them on many 2003 best-of lists.

But politics? Cursive isn’t likely to come up in a conversation about Iraq or the economy, healthcare or education.

In fact, it would be hard to find a less political band, which is why it’s a bit of a surprise that this corn-fed act from Omaha’s much-ballyhooed Saddle Creek Records scene is headlining Plea for Peace, a 40-date cross-country tour promoting voter registration.

But according to singer Tim Kasher, that’s precisely why they’re on the bill. “We’re probably one of the best bands to do it because a lot of people that listen to us might suffer from severe apathy. For me to be this drunken, apathetic poster boy saying I believe in voting, then hopefully that will help some of these kids to kind of turn their heads.”

Kasher, 29, readily admits he didn’t vote in the 2000 election. Nor did two other members of his band. “I would have voted, but we were on tour and I was too lazy to send in the ballot,” said Kasher, who at the time was touring behind the messy break-up album, “Domestica.”

The group is participating in Plea for Peace because “the country learned a hard lesson in 2000, so I’m just trying to help turn that around,” he said.

With predictions that the 2004 presidential election may be even closer than it was in 2000 and with 80% of the country seemingly stuck on one end of the political spectrum or the other, a lot of attention is falling on the swing vote, specifically the undecided and the nonvoting.

And no group of Americans has voted less than 18- to 24-year-olds. In the 2000 presidential election, just 42% of them cast their ballots, compared with 70% of Americans 25 and older.

What the 24-and-younger set lacks in electoral interest, however, it makes up for in music consumption. This same group of vote-aversive young’uns buys most of the records in this country. In such politically charged and polarized times, it makes sense that savvy musicians would try to bridge that gap.

Plea for Peace isn’t the only vote-toting lineup to swing through town. Last month, the overtly left-leaning Rock Against Bush tour swept through the area, sponsored by Punkvoter.com and headlined by the group’s founder, Fat Mike Burnett of punk band NOFX.

Next week, local Afro-Latino act Ozomatli will headline an event called Be the Revolution at the Avalon; proceeds will help fund an anti-Bush postering effort. Next month, the nonpartisan Rock the Vote will kick off its vote-promotion push in a tour featuring Jason Mraz, Lenny Kravitz and the Dixie Chicks.

Plea for Peace is also following the nonpartisan line, though all the participants on the tour identify with the left -- poet Saul Williams; Colorado emo-core act Planes Mistaken for Stars; and Mike Park, the Bay Area musician, punk activist, proprietor of Asian Man Records and Plea for Peace founder-coordinator.

“All the musicians on this tour, we’re all liberals, but we thought, let’s do something that’s not so in your face and just encourage people to think for themselves,” said Park, a community activist.

According to poet Saul Williams, “It’s that other generation that has the power, so the youth become more and more apathetic about their ability to make a difference. I decided to become involved in a tour like this to remind people that we do have a voice and that we will make a difference, and if the older generation refuses to listen, then they will find their voices squelched out because the power really is in our hands.”

Williams, 32, will perform segments from his recent poetry collection, “Said the Shotgun to the Head.”

This year’s Plea for Peace tour, which kicks off a string of five nights in the area at the Troubadour on Wednesday, is the fourth. The first took place in 2000, with Alkaline Trio headlining. Subsequent tours featured Thrice and International Noise Conspiracy.

The money earned by the tours, about $37,000 total, has gone toward Plea for Peace, the nonprofit San Jose group with the goal of building a youth center “where we could do live shows, and we could teach kids how to do monitors, lights, box office, booking,” said Park. “Everything that’s just the day-to-day work that goes into putting on shows, but have kids do it and do it alcohol-free.”

Park anticipates adding about $25,000 to the Plea for Peace coffers and, in the process, registering about 2,500 new voters.

“It’s up to them to actually go out and vote,” Park said. “We’re just hoping for the best.”

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Plea for Peace Tour

Who: Cursive, Saul Williams, Mike Park and Planes Mistaken for Stars

Wednesday-May 28

Where: Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 276-6168

Price: $16.

May 29-30

Where: Glass House, 200 W. 2nd Ave., Pomona. (909) 629-0377

Price: $15

Tour info: www.pleaforpeace.com