by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Weighing in at just under a half-hour, Violenteer’s self-titled 6-song debut EP is a tale of competing sonic identities sandwiched between two slices of bass. 

The recording showcases the Cotton Brothers. In the right channel on bass is Randy Cotton, who you might remember from his work in ’90s Omaha golden age punk band Ritual Device, which was followed a few years later by metal band, Ravine. In the left channel also on bass is Barry Cotton, formerly of the band Members of the Press. These guys share a love for pounding, nihilistic-fueled metal that is like listening to one explosion after another or the dark soundtrack to a ’90s grind-core horror flick. 

Cutting through the dueling basses’ thundering rumble is vocalist Steve Tulipana’s howls, growls, spoken words and the occasional sung lyric. Tulipana made a name for himself as the frontman of ’90s Kansas City noise-rock band Season to Risk. 

The album is a mountain of noise/soundscapes that tumble forward at approaching-doom pace, lovingly provided by drummer Eric Ebers, another Omaha punk rock veteran from bands Ritual Device and Ravine, now a member of shoe-gaze outfit Minne Lussa. New drummer Corey Thumann has taken over behind the kit for the live band. Though overcast by a cloud of metal angst, two songs on the EP break through the darkness. 

“Up the Flood” jumps forward atop a groovy, punchy drum line before breaking into monster riffs, then throttling back again to that crazy rhythm. It’s the closest thing to vintage gutter-groove Ritual Device I’ve heard since the last Ritual Device reunion show. 

Then there’s “Just Another Day,” a grunge-style ballad that features Tulipana’s best vocals singing the album’s most appealing melodies. The song breaks down to an indecipherable spoken-word bombast before shifting into a Pink Floyd (a la Meddle)-style psych rock soundscape. This song, no doubt, will be the epic closer for Saturday night’s album release show at Reverb Lounge. 

Joining Violenteer on this loaded four-band bill are Dance Me Pregnant (‘00s-era O’Leaver’s punk rock survivors Chris Machmuller, Johnny Vredenburg, Corey Broman and Jeff Ankenbauer), Lodgings (last I heard, their new records was in the process of being mixed) and Bad Bad Men (the Wolf-Hug-Siebken power trio extraordinaire). 8 p.m., $12. 

Limited-edition 12-inch vinyl and digital download are on pre-sale at the Violenteer Bandcamp page, where you can also hear the first single from the EP.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A week after the news broke in Lazy-i, the folks at the Maha Music Festival today made it official: The Maha Festival returns Aug. 2, 2025, to RiverFront Park in downtown Omaha. 

With the headline: Maha Festival Returning in 2025, Combining Forces with Outlandia, the press release also announced Maha’s original four founders are once again involved in the festival — Mike App, Tre Brashear, Tyler Owen and Mike Toohey. And as reported earlier, 1% Productions is both booking and producing the show. 

“As Maha grew and found new leadership, the foursome worked with Omaha-based 1% Productions to start another music festival, Outlandia, in 2022,” said the press release. “They have decided to end Outlandia and recombine efforts with Maha.”

Also back for the 2025 festival is former Maha executive director Emily Cox. And let’s not forget MECA, the organization who oversees The RiverFront, who no doubt will also be playing a key role. 

Maha Festival Board President TJ Twit said expect announcements on performers and other details about Maha 2025 in the coming months. I’m told they already booked the headliners. 

In a time when we seem to hear almost daily of a long-running music festival either being postponed or cancelled (I’m looking at you, Chicago’s Pitchforkfest), it’s great to see Omaha’s keynote music festival is alive and well and will be back, hopefully bigger and better than ever….

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A not-so-last-minute show is happening tonight down in the Old Market…

Nashville trio Styrofoam Winos is passing through town and making a stop at the Grapefruit Records stage. The trio of Joe Kenkel, Trevor Nikrant and Lou Turner released their latest, Real Time, via Sophomore Lounge Records this past September. They also appeared on MJ Lenderman’s 2023 album And the Wind (Live and Loose), which makes perfect sense since they have a similar indie folk-rock sound. 

Opening for Styrofoam Winos tonight is our very own David Nance and Pearl Lovejoy-Boyd. Expect some sweet, sweet harmonies. 

This gig was announced two weeks ago via the Grapefruit Records Instagram and somehow escaped my attention. It starts at 7 p.m. and is $10. Grapefruit Records is located at 1125 Jackson St., Suite 5 (enter on the 12th St. side)…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A glance at this weekend…

Tonight, Minneapolis indie punk all-female trio VIAL headlines at Reverb Lounge. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch them this past summer at GRRRL Camp Festival. Their new album, Grow the Fuck Up (2024, Trout Hole Records), drops today, so this is sort of an album release show! Eight songs in under 18 minutes. Fun! Richmond punkers Destructo Disk is in the center slot, whole Omaha phenoms UN-T.I.L. opens the show at 8 p.m. $17.

Tomorrow night (Saturday), Criteria returns to The Waiting Room. Last time through, just a month or so ago, they played a ton of new songs. As a headliner, expect a brisk mix of old and new. Joining them is Omaha indie legends Little Brazil and Prospect Avenue. 8 p.m., $10.

Meanwhile, down the street at The Sydney, Nashville’s Thelma and the Sleaze play a return engagement. Spotify describes them as “an all-female, queer, southern-rock and roll band.” Their latest is the self-released Ain’t Country. Western Haikus open at 9 p.m. (Sydney Time). $15.

Finally, no one enjoys the holidays quite like fabulous O’Leaver’s, where Saturday night they’re hosting a free show with Cupholder, Pagan Athletes and Your Own Knife. No start time is listed, but they never get rolling until at least 9 p.m. at The Club. 

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Clearing out the e-mail ashtray…

I used to call them “Omaha alt-country band” Clarence Tilton, but these days the band has all but swayed away from the “alt” moniker altogether and is merely “Omaha country band Clarence Tilton.” You can certainly hear it in their music and by the artists they’re now working with. 

Tilton recently announced via an embargoed press release that their latest single, “Flyaway Cafe, released last Friday, is a duet with Presley Tucker, daughter of country music legend Tanya Tucker. 

For those who don’t pay attention to country music or who were born in the 21st Century, Tucker was a staple on C&W radio stations throughout the ‘70s, thanks to hits like “What’s Your Mama’s Name?” and “Texas (When I Die),” but is most well known for her mega-hit “Delta Dawn,” which was on constant rotation on KFAB-AM back when KFAB played music. 

The press release doesn’t say how Clarence Tilton landed Presley Tucker to perform on this duet, only that Tucker said the first time she played with the band, “it felt like I’d know them all along. Their music gives you that nostalgic feeling, like you’ve been there and done that. Grateful to be part of it.”

This is the second time Clarence Tilton landed a big-name guest on one of their songs. In October they released the single “Fred’s Colt,” which features country music icon Marty Stuart on vocals and guitar. Both songs will be included on the band’s new LP, Queen of the Brawl, slated for a 2025 release. 

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Conor Obert and Shudder to Think’s Craig Wedren dropped a new song last Wednesday, “Justice to a Scream,” that also is the end-title track from documentary short Alok, from executive producer Jodie Foster. 

The film is a portrait of non-binary author, poet, comedian Alok Vaid-Menon. From the press release:

“I am a longtime admirer of ALOK,” said Oberst. “Their powerful writing, art and advocacy for transgender people and all people who suffer from the lunacy of ignorance and bigotry that permeates our society is inspirational. So when the opportunity to work on this song with Craig Wedren came along I was thrilled. I am also a big time, lifelong fan of Craig – from the amazing Shudder to Think records through his various projects and solo work. He possesses a truly one of a kind musical mind and a voice as unique and iconoclastic as he is. He has also been a great and treasured friend of mine for many years. This is all to say I loved working on this project with these two incredible pioneers.”

The track already is on heavy rotation on Sirius XMU.

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We’re entering the Thanksgiving countdown and thus, the more-intense portion of the holiday season, which means we’ll be sadly lacking for shows (specifically, touring indie-rock shows) for the balance of the year and into next February. Instead, prepare for the usual annual locals-reunion gigs, assorted album release show and tribute performances, such as the one happening tonight.

This evening, Reverb Lounge is hosting Stigmata Martyr, a tribute to Bauhaus. The band features Randy Cotton and Mike Saklar, former members of ’90s legendary Omaha punk bands Ravine and Ritual Device, and Benn Sieff of Bennie and the Gents fame in the Peter Murphy role. Joining them are 138: A Tribute to Misfits, and Abscence+Alchemy. 9 p.m., $12.

Meanwhile, down the street at The Sydney, Denver-based electronic/industrial performer Sell Farm performs. No opener listed for this 9 p.m. show (Sydney Time, that is…). $10. 

One last-minute gig of note: Los Cruxes is headlining a gig at The Tavern, 514 So. 10th St., tonight. Joining them are Megadestroyer, Trees with Eyes and Neva Dinova’s Jake Bellows. 9:30 star time, no price listed, so you’re on your own…

If I don’t run into you before tomorrow, have a happy Thanksgiving.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The biggest news over the weekend is that the Maha Music Festival is alive and well and could be bigger than ever next year. 

Maha will return as a one-day event Aug. 2, 2025, at its new Omaha RiverFront location. In fact, I’m told by two reliable sources that the headliners already have been booked. Among the big changes for 2025: One Percent Productions once again is involved in the festival’s booking. 

No doubt the festival wouldn’t be possible unless Maha (a 501(c)(3) organization), was able to line up the necessary sponsors. Will that include Union Pacific? I was told Medical Solutions, who was the main sponsor in 2023, withdrew its sponsorship, which was part of the reason last year’s festival was cancelled. 

As of 10 a.m., I’ve yet to have any of this confirmed by a member of the Maha Festival Board, despite reaching out to two board members over the weekend, so take this information for what it’s worth. 

One other bit of news: The Outlandia Festival, held at Falconwood Park in Bellevue, will not return in 2025. I’m not sure the specifics, though low numbers at last year’s festival likely played a role in the decision.

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The Speed! Lightning 500 album release show Friday night at Reverb Lounge was a crowded rock ’n’ roll gathering of Speed! Nebraska Records fans, both old and new. How do I know this? Because no other label (local or otherwise) has offered such a wide variety of merch over the years, and still does. 

Right when you walked into Reverb, you were hit by a wall of Speed! Nebraska-branded merch, ranging from T-shirts to hats to jackets, not to mention a wide selection of the label’s music released in all formats. Folks in the crowd proudly wore their Speed! Nebraska gear, including me in my Monroes T-shirt. 

You see, Speed! Nebraska is more than a record label; it’s a local punk-rock co-op whose members are treated like family by the label’s major domo, Gary Dean Davis. Every band testified from stage how proud they are to be part of a record label that’s been so core to the Nebraska music scene since the late ‘90s. 

Some highlights from Friday’s show (sorry, UN-T.I.L., I missed your set this time):

The synth-and-drums duo of Pagan Athletes continues to hone its sound and has come a long way since the first time I saw them perform five years ago at Almost Music’s farewell in-store. Vocalist/keyboardist Griffin Wolf and brother, drummer Nathan Wolf, have evolved their primitive digital noise-rock into a hard, rhythmic, punk wall of sound that must be seen and heard to be believed. Check them out this Saturday at O’Leaver’s.

The Broke Loose, a four-piece fronted by guitarists/vocalists Glenn Antonucci and Matt Evans, with Corey Randone on bass and Doug Kabourek on drums, plays indie power-pop with a throwback flair that reminded me of something you’d hear on a Titan Records compilation. Antonucci has a distinctively nasal vocal style sort of like Too Much Joy’s Tim Quirk that compliments the jangle-pop goodness. Standout moment was a solid take on their song “Just Like I Told You,” that was an evening highlight.

I’ve seen Wagon Blasters at least a hundred times (OK, maybe more like a dozen times) and Friday night’s set was one of their best performances. Proud frontman Gary Dean Davis, decked out in trademark necktie and Speed! Nebraska trucker cap (which you, too, can buy at their Bandcamp site), was at his high-flying best, yelling above guitarist Will Thornton’s tractor-punk power chords. Imagine how these folks would be received at something like Gonerfest or Coachella… or Maha!

Finally, Bad Bad Men closed out the night with another blistering set of psych-fueld punk rock. The power triad of Wolf, Siebken and Hug are Nebraska music scene elder statesmen who have created a natural extension of the heavy sound they’ve created all their lives, fronted by Wolf’s snarling vocals and ripping guitar riffs. 

All-in-all, it was a very satisfying rock show performed in front of a crowd of adoring fans featuring just a few of the label’s newest talent. There could have been six more bands on stage who contributed to the new Speed! Lightning 500 compilation (which you can buy at Homer’s, Grapefruit, Recycled Sounds or online at Bandcamp). Without a doubt, the label’s future is as bright at lightning.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

With no big touring indie shows on the calendar until next February (except for VIAL next Friday night at Reverb), we’ve entered into that long, cold winter of locals-only programming. Oh, there will still be a few straggling bands rolling into The Sydney at the last moment (System Exclusive, for example), but other than the proverbial “holiday shows,” it could be slim pickings for the next few months. Still, always something going on…

Like tonight. The event of the weekend is happening at Reverb Lounge tonight – the Speed! Lightning 500 album release show (which I wrote about at length yesterday). It’s a five-band line-up, a veritable Speed! Nebraska Rock Festival. The fun kicks off at 7 p.m. with UN-T.I.L., followed by Pagan Athletes, The Broke Loose, Bad Bad Men and Wagon Blasters (don’t be surprised if they switch things up). Entry fee is just $10, and you’ll have an opportunity to buy a copy of the fantastic new album pressed on Hot Wheels Orange vinyl… see you there.

Tomorrow night it’s off to fabulous O’Leaver’s for Wedding (a new project by Anna Schulte that includes Bokr Tov’s Colby Jenkins on bass, and Zachary Roland on percussion) and singer/songwriter Mitch Gettman. These weekly music shows are becoming a regular thing at The Club, which used to be known as one of the city’s hottest venues for touring indie-punk bands. They’re bringing it back! Poet Aaron Scobie starts things off at 9 p.m. $10. 

Finally, Sunday night it’s the just-announced show headlined by Pasadena duo System Exclusive, who “balance a hard-edged electronic pulse of old school synthwerks against hot-under-the-collar live drums and slashing post-punk guitars.” Their latest LP, Click, was released this past May on Le Cèpe Records. Las Cruxes, who has been busy recording a new album at ARC Records for Conor Oberst’s Million Stars label, opens the show at 9 p.m. (Sydney Time). $10. 

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The day before the official album release show for Speed! Nebraska’s Speed! Lightning 500 album, here’s a quick rundown of the record and who you’ll be seeing tomorrow night at Reverb Lounge. 

First, a bit of history about Speed! Nebraska. “We’re a 45 record label. That’s the main thing we do,” said the label’s head honcho, Gary Dean Davis, in a 2006 feature about the label, written in conjunction with its 10-year anniversary. 

The label was named after a 1995 full-length album by Davis’ former band, Frontier Trust, and was an attempt by Davis to stay involved in music after that band broke up. 

“At the time, I figured I would never be in another band,” Davis said. “but I still wanted to do something with music. I knew that (the band) Solid Jackson had made a recording of their song, ‘Fell,’ and that they weren’t going to put it out. They didn’t have the money and had moved onto other things. I said, ‘If I start my own label, can I put it out?’” 

And so, Solid Jackson’s “Fell” was the label’s first release, with a catalog number of Speed! 100. The new album’s catalog number is Speed! 12/500, which I think Gary said means that it’s the fifth 12-inch released by the label? So they’re more than a 45 record label after all. 

Five songs per side, 10 songs by 10 different Speed! Nebraska artists. Most of them you’ll know and recognize. The album sort of represents who’s on the current roster, though some of the bands, such as newcomers Cat Piss, Pagan Athletes, UN-T.I.L, The Broke Loose and Clarence Tilton, have yet to release anything on Speed! Nebraska. Hopefully, that will change in the months/years to come. 

Every song on the album is a keeper and, in a way, the record reminds me of those ‘90s samplers put out by labels like Grass, Tim/Kerr, SST, etc.  You get a little taste of everything, but there’s a distinctly punk thread that runs through all of it. 

Most of the songs were recorded over the course of two days – March 2-3, 2024 – at Fuse Recording Service in Lincoln with Charlie Johnson and Tim Kechely behind the controls. 

The two exceptions are Wagon Blaster’s “King Richard’s Satellite,” recorded by Bryce Hotz; and Cat Piss’s “Blues Igloo Grand Prix, recorded and mixed by Rosemary Ellis. The man with bat-like hearing – Doug Van Sloun – mastered the album at Focus.

The vinyl is “Hot Wheels Racetrack Orange” in color and sounds delightful, pressed by Waxxy Poodle in Madison, Wisconsin. The Johnny Lightning racetrack sleeve was designed by John Wolf, ruggedly screen-printed by Pat Oakes at Ink Tank. It’s a rock ’n’ roll keepsake!

Tomorrow night’s (Friday’s) “Speed! Lighting” album release celebration features five bands heard on the album, UN-T.I.L. (who I mentioned yesterday), Pagan Athletes, The Broke Loose, Bad Bad Men and Wagon Blasters. Copies of the record will be available for purchase, but if you miss the show, you can find them at Homer’s, Recycled Sounds and Grapefruit Records or you can order it online for $20 at the Speed! Nebraska Bandcamp page.  The show starts at 7 p.m. and is $10. 

Here’s the full track listing.

Speed! Lighting 500

Side 1 – Race the Winner

Wagon Blasters – King RIchard’s Satellite
The Really Rottens – Four Barrel
UN-T.I.L. – Radio Love Letters
Cat Piss – Blues Igloo Grand Prix
Bad Bad Men – Dirty Clean

Side 2 – Be a Champ

Mezcal Brothers – Ragtop Cadillac
The Broke Loose – Shotgun
Clarence Tilton – Constitution Tree
Pagan Athletes – In a Race Against Time
Domestica – Drive

See you tomorrow!

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

Last Saturday, Chalis Bristol, Chair of Omaha Girls Rock!’s board of directors, announced via email that the organization’s current programming will end Dec. 15.

“Despite the incredible efforts of our entire OGR community, the reality is that a shifting funding landscape, increased costs, and decreased grant capacity mean that maintaining the organization in this form is neither responsible nor financially possible,” she wrote in the letter.

Bristol goes on to say it’s “not goodbye forever. We are moving forward with the hope that while OGR may no longer be the official organization you have loved over the years, our programming will soon continue with the support of another organization whose mission and values align with our own.”

Who or what that organization will be wasn’t stated. Certainly OGR’s mission would fit in with a number of other local 501(c)(3) organizations, and if they maintained their staff, teaching artists and volunteers, would continue to play an important role in the Omaha music scene. 

A bit of history…

Omaha Girls Rock! got its start back in 2011 by founder Stefanie Drootin, who you may know as the bass player in Saddle Creek Records acts The Good Life and Big Harp and for having played on a number of Bright Eyes albums. Her original vision went well beyond teaching girls how to rock. It was to provide a support system enabling and encouraging girls to design their own futures and to realize those designs.

In addition to teaching girls how to play instruments and be in a band, “the workshops also deal with self esteem, body image, stuff so girls feel confident no matter how they’re treated,” Drootin said in a 2011 Lazy-i/Reader column. “I feel like I was lucky that I had the confidence to be able to deal with a lot of the stuff that goes along with being a girl in a band.” 

Over the years the organization grew, hosting camps and presenting showcases at local clubs and festivals (including the Maha Festival), where camp participants rocked out in front of large audiences. Seems like everyone knows someone whose daughter was in OGR. 

A testimony to the program’s effectiveness: This Friday night, OGR alumni band UN-T.I.L. will perform as part of the Speed! Nebraska Records showcase at Reverb Lounge. The gig celebrates the release of the Speed! Lightning 500 compilation album, which collects new tracks by ten of the area’s finest punk/indie bands, including UN-T.I.L.’s “Radio Love Letters.”

U.N.-T.I.L.’s success is somewhat ironic coming as OGR closes its doors. I was unaware that OGR was in financial trouble. No doubt I and many other past contributors would have opened their pocketbooks if they knew the organization was in dire straits. It would be a real blow to the Omaha music scene if OGR can’t find a new home with another Omaha non-profit…

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A couple shows at the 1% clubs tonight…

Texan by way of Colorado Casper Allen plays at Reverb Lounge tonight. His style is Tom Waits-inspired twangy folk, just your typical cowboy with face tattoos. Opening is Shawn Hess and Trent Browns. $20, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, New York-based emo/ pop-punk band Keep Flying headlines at The Sydney. Blondo and Odd Man Out open at 8 p.m. Sydney Time. $15.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Regular Lazy-i readers may have noticed that show listings posted on the site for The Sydney typically end with the language “start time, xx p.m., Sydney Time.” I began doing this because whenever I went to shows at The Sydney scheduled to start at, say, 9, they ended up starting at around 10:30, leaving me with 90 minutes to nurse my Rolling Rock and dead-scroll my iPhone. 

Late start times were a normal thing in the pre-COVID days. Most rock shows didn’t start until well after 10 p.m. (and usually closer to 11) in an effort to draw the largest crowd (or sell more drinks). Then came COVID and shows went away. Upon their return a year or so later, venues began to run with strict military precision; specifically The Slowdown, Reverb and The Waiting Room. What used to be three-band bills that began at 10:30 and wrapped up at 1 a.m. have become two-band bills that begin at 8 p.m. and rarely run past 10. It’s a strange but welcome change, especially for old-timers who like to get to bed early. 

The exception, of course, is The Sydney, who has kept operating like the pre-COVID days with late nights and multiple bands. And irregular start times. 

The reason for this enormous preamble: I showed up at The Sydney at 10:30 this past Saturday night (after having drinks with an old pal of mine) to see In Tongues, Housewares and Minne Lussa, figuring at worse I’d miss part of whoever played the opening slot. I paid my $10 and rushed inside only to hear Housewares’ frontman say (paraphrasing): “Good night! Thanks to In Tongues for opening. Minne Lussa is next.” 

For whatever reason, this night The Sydney decided to start the music right at 9 p.m., as advertised, typical “Sydney Time” hi-jinx. 

The good news is I was able to catch an entire set by Minne Lussa, who I’ve seen perform many times over the years, but this night they never sounded better. Dressed in their finest Grand Ol’ Opry outfits I guess for irony’s sake (since they don’t play an ounce of either Country or Western music), the band shimmered both literally and figuratively beneath their Spencers Gifts-quality mood lighting. 

At the heart of their music is the intricate guitar interplay between Matt Rutledge and Eric Bemberger, with Bemberger providing the more fluid, gossamer licks. This will seem uncharacteristic to anyone who only knows Bemberger from his former band, Beep Beep, whose specialty was blaring, angular post-punk. Here, Bemberger weaves his glowing, gorgeous guitar lines with Rutledge’s complimentary counters or rhythms, creating a dense, ethereal soundscape, driven forward at mid-tempo by the ace rhythm section of drummer Eric Ebers and bassist Alan Legge. 

Their songs could hold up as instrumentals, but Rutledge adds warm, grotto vocals throughout, that unfortunately were undecipherable due to the poor vocal mix/PA. Bemberger provided contrasting lead vocals on one very cool song. 

I guess you could call their sound dream-pop or ornate shoe-gaze, comparable to, say more laid-back My Bloody Valentine or (more appropriately) Slowdive. One fan standing next to me said they reminded him of ‘90s Portland instrumental band Pell Mell, which got us talking about Sokol Underground acts like Tresteza and The Mercury Program, though for my money, Minne Lussa is more innovative and interesting.

They closed out their set with a glowing cover of “Alison” by Slowdive, met with a nice round of applause by the 40 or so on hand.  Rutledge said the band enters the recording studio Dec. 7 with producer/engineer Jeremy Garrett. More to come…

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.