It sounded even more like a television series when Urinine Records' owner Sid Sowder told me the Park Ave. story over the phone from his office in Kansas City. Sowder, a 27-year-old Internet wonderboy, runs Urinine "as an expensive hobby, like golf," putting his money and time into releasing CDs by 22 bands, including The Believe It or Nots, Hell on Wheels, The Hillary Step and Free Range Pilgrim. He calls his work with Park Ave. "a labor of love."

"I found out about Park Ave. about the same time as every else: too late," he said. He said when he heard their songs on a Saddle Creek Records compilation -- forwarded from his old job as a music director at a community radio station in Indianapolis -- "he fell in love immediately."

"I contacted Saddle Creek and asked if I could get in touch with them. Nothing happened, then finally I got an e-mail from Jenn Bernard, the band's keyboardist. She told me they had broken up."

Without even hearing the tapes, Sowder said he wanted to release them. "She said the quality wasn't good enough and tried to talk me out of it," he said, "but I convinced her to let me hear the tapes."

Bernard sent Sowder the rough mixes that would eventually become When Jamie Went to London… We Broke Up, nine songs that capture Park Ave.'s infectious, homemade pop-rock sound, warts and all. Tracks like "All Boys Band" and "It's a Life" are sloppy, post-punk rock tunes, with warbly, unsure vocals, slightly awkward instruments, and unmistakable, hook-filled pop melodies. The final mix by Mike Mogis captures the band's unpretentious honesty in all its low-fi glory.

Park Ave. formed in January '96, when teen-agers Clark Baechle (current drummer for The Faint) and Conor Oberst (guitarist/vocalist, a.k.a. Bright Eyes) decided to trade instruments and form a band. "Neely (Jenkins, the band's bassist), Jamie and I were all sophomores and juniors in college," Bernard said. "Conor was 15 and Clark was 14. We had friends in common and just ended up talking to each other. I think they were both itching to do something different.

Weekly practices were often ditched for trips to the mall or communal naps. When they were approached by a promoter to play a show at Chicago's Fireside Bowl, they were miffed, Sowder said in the band bio, adding that Conor tried to talk the promoter out of it by telling him they weren't good enough.

Sowder's band bio also hints at romance between band members. "We got along remarkably well, although I think we learned a lot about how males and females interact," Bernard said. "The funny thing about the bio -- we were sitting around reminiscing about all the fun, crazy stuff, and some things got exaggerated. When Sid wrote the bio, he didn't get the realities of having to practice one song for four hours because it was so hard for us to get it right."

Over the years, Park Ave. released a split 7" with The Wrens and were included in the Saddle Creek compilation, but that's about it for recordings. Bernard said they played live 10 or 15 times. "We never heard anything from record labels," she said. "It was really fun for us just to see how much our friends enjoyed it, but we weren't really into making it a career. "

But what about Park Ave.? Could the CD, slated for release later this month, change the band's fortune? Jamie has since moved back from London, with plans to live in Omaha for at least a year. Bernard said a reunion for the CD release isn't out of the question, though there are no plans to permanently reform the band. "We couldn't tour, except in the summertime," she said. "My little brother asked if we would get back together if someone gave us a bunch of money. I said we would if we made a million dollars and were promised $5 million more."

Sowder said unlike the majority of acts who record on his label, Park Ave.'s music is widely accessible to anyone who likes pop music. Still, he doesn't expect the CD to break any sales records. "Everything I do is a money loser," he said. "I hope that it'll go big; I believe it's a good record or I wouldn't be putting it out. But I'm also a realist and know that I have fairly unique tastes."