Live Reviews: Dead Letters, Obscurants, Water from Your Eyes, Palm…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , , — @ 7:50 am December 5, 2022

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The weekend went like this…

From all reports, I missed the best show of the weekend by about an hour. Head of Femur opened the Sydney Saturday night showcase and I wasn’t able to get there in time for their set but was told it was an absolute scorcher from four people who were there. I got to the bar just after it ended and walked into a crowd that looked like a scene from Sokol Underground circa the early 2000s. Head of Femur goes way back with a lot of the Saddle Creek crew. 

The Obscurants at The Sydney, Dec. 3, 2022.

Lincoln emo-punk band The Obsurants were up next and played a solid set of high-energy emo-punk songs performed seamlessly one after the other with no break in between. Frontman Eric Maly has the right voice for these anthemic power-punk tunes. A few times during the set when he wasn’t playing his guitar he appeared to be doing America Sign Language while he sang, which was strangely affecting. 

Dead Letters practically playing in the dark at The Sydney, Dec. 3, 2022.

Headlining band Dead Letters, who were celebrating the release of their new album, Songs from Center, were slightly Omaha’d (hey, that’s what you get when you let a legend like Femur open for you). All three members of the band yelled out their lead vocals while the other two yelled out harmonies on these endearing, short, sharp jangle-punk songs that had as much in common with Violent Femmes as they did R.E.M. And when I say short songs, the album’s 9 songs only span a total of 19 minutes — so do the math. You never have a chance to get tired of any of them. 

The best part about this band is that, unlike so many acts I’ve seen lately, it’s obvious all three members were having the time of their lives, and so was the audience.

Water From Your Eyes at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 4, 2022.

Sunday night it was off to Reverb Lounge. Less than a dozen people were in the audience when Water from Your Eyes began their set at 8 p.m. sharp. The duo of vocalist Rachel Brown and guitarist Nate Amos were joined by a third person on guitar and were backed by some thumping rhythm tracks. If you’d fallen across the duo’s past recordings, like 2019’s Somebody Else’s Song (Exploding in Sound Records) or even 2021’s artier Structure (Wharf Cat) you would have been ill-prepared for the sound barrage of last night’s set. 

At the heart of it was deep, blaring pre-recorded synths joined by Amos’ acidic, feedback-drenched guitar that interlaced with Brown’s untouched, unprocessed vocals that sounded like your little sister singing along to art-damaged post-punk. Harsh, throbbing sonic textures repeated trancelike with the second guitar providing counter riffs. 

The evening’s highlight was a brittle interpretation of “Adeleine,” a track from Somebody Else’s Song, reinterpreted with rough synths and guitar, barely recognizable compared to the original, but a better fit in what turned out to be one of my favorite sets I’ve seen this year. 

Palm at Reverb Lounge, Dec. 4, 2022.

I wasn’t sure how closely headliner Palm would follow the song structures heard on their new album, Nicks and Grazes. Would they change it up like Spirit of the Beehive did when they played at Slowdown earlier this year? The answer was no. 

The new record is rife with odd time changes, hard-to-grasp repeated musical structures, and flat, atonal vocals that are more accoutrement than melody. Call it modern indie prog for lack of a better description, well played (a fantastic rhythm section) but hard to listen to if you’re someone who enjoys melodies. It didn’t help that both vocalists were buried in the rhythm-dense mix. At its best, Palm is an intricate rhythmic puzzle box that can be fun to try to solve… for awhile, and then gets tiresome. That said, the 40 or so on hand for their set were into it. 

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Yes, it’s rare for me to go out on a “school night,” but I knew this would be among the last touring indie shows coming through town until next spring. In fact, the only upcoming One Percent Productions show on my radar is the Feb. 23 Unsane show at The Admiral. Virtually no indie shows are currently booked on the 1% calendar. 

The Dec. 15 Bartees Strange show at The Slowdown is that venue’s last touring indie show until the Feb. 25 Rural Alberta Advantage gig, and then Titus Andronicus way out on March 28. 

Yep, it’s slim pickings if you’re an indie music fan. I’ll talk more about that when I post my Year in Review column in The Reader (get a sneak peek in the printed edition, which is already on newsstands). Looks like it’s going to be a long, cold winter…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Cog Factory doc, Wagon Blasters, Breakers, The Sun-Less Trio, The Obscurants Saturday; Pink Fuzz Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 1:04 pm September 16, 2022
Wagon Blasters at Lookout Lounge April 30, 2016. The band plays Saturday night at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we get into the weekend, the folks who run the Maha Music Festival are now giving you a chance to suggest bands for next year’s fest, which will again be held at Stinson Park in Aksarben Village.

All you have to do is click here and fill out the survey. Yeah, I know, the odds of Maha actually booking the bands you list are, well, pretty slim. It’s not unlike when a radio station asks for requests when you know they’re only going to play your song if it’s already on their playlist. Still, it’ll give them an indication of just how broad a net to cast when the Knitting Factory folks who help book the festival actually start reaching out to acts. 

And, if you don’t fill out the survey, you can’t complain next year when your bands aren’t on the line-up. Here’s the link. I’m not sure how long it’ll be available, so do it now. 

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OK, onto the weekend.

There’s not much happening tonight. Stinson Park is hosting a post-punk cover band called The Damones. This was originally supposed to happen a few weeks ago but was rained out. No, this is not original music, but it could be fun, and it’s a departure for the Stinson Park series. And it’s free. Runs from 7 to 10 p.m. 

Moving onto a very busy Saturday…

Top of the order is the screening of the Cog Factory Documentary at The Waiting Room. I could have sworn this movie had already been released online. At any rate, here’s your chance to see it if you haven’t already. She screening starts at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a discussion, and then a live performance from The Wagon Blasters, probably around 9 p.m. UN-T.I.L. also is on the program. $15.

Meanwhile, across town at fabulous O’Leaver’s, The Club is hosting its monthly rock show. Headlining is Breakers, a newish band featuring Matt Focht of Head of Femur with Chris Yambor and Robert Little. In the middle slot The Sun-Less Trio celebrating the release of their new record, Cemetary Road. And opening is a new project from Lincoln’s Eric Maly (Fair Moans, Hi Ho Silverfox, Slow Pioneers) called The Obscurants. Joining Maly in the band are Shawn Williams, drums; Jon Ruff, bass; Danny Carraher, guitar; Chris Maly, guitar; and Emma Nelson on violin. Whew! You get all this entertainment for a mere $10. Show starts at 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Petshop in Benson (just south of the old Barley Street Tavern) is hosting a show with FLT RTH, Specter Poetics and Jeff in Leather. $5, 10 p.m.

Finally on Sunday, Denver grunge rockers Pink Fuzz play at The Sydney in Benson with Hussies. $10 9 p.m.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i