The Mynabirds at The Slowdown, June 8, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So maybe you were right giving me shit about my warnings of Mynabirds’ CD release show selling out. It didn’t, though there were at least 400 people there for Friday night’s show. OK, maybe I was hyping. So what. If you were there, you probably had a good time.

Laura Burhenn came out with her signature dead fox head gear, stood on her box and belted out about an hour’s worth of new and old material. I thought I’d hear at least a little political diatribe to coincide with her album’s perceived political themes (more on that later), but instead Burhenn stayed focused on the music, and wishing Slowdown a happy 5th birthday.

And I have to admit, her new record is beginning to grow on me, which is good since I apparently am the only one in America who wasn’t bowled over by it on first listen. The upbeat numbers (like “Body of Work”) are  fun, but it’s the slower, tonal pieces, such as “Mightier Than the Sword,” that are the real show stoppers.

Whereas most of the her backing band are competent-though-faceless musicians, Burhenn is blessed with an amazing drummer. I have no idea who she is, but her big, dynamic, throaty sound stands out above everything (but Burhenn’s vocals, of course).

My only disappointment was with her set structure — it was as if Burhenn figured out the set list about five minutes before the show. Or maybe I’m just hypercritical about these things, but a good set list is like a great DJ set — it rises and falls, each song blending naturally into the other like perfect transitions in a seamless story taking you for a ride that culminates in a big finish. It’s about dynamics. Burhenn instead merely plays the songs, one after another with little interest in transition. Even the set ender and prerequisite leave-the-stage-followed-by-the-encore moment was more awkward than usual.

Jake Bellows & Co. at The Slowdown, June 8, 2012.

I caught the last half of Jake Bellows and his unnamed band (I call them “Jake Bellows and the Dying Embers”… think about it). Where Jake solo is interesting, it also can be boring. With a band backing him, Jake’s songs are given new life, new dynamics, new muscle. I understand that this particular collaboration of musicians may never play together again, which is a pity. That shouldn’t stop Bellows from surrounding himself with players for future shows.

Under Water Dream Machine at The Sydney, as part of the OEAA Summer Showcase, June 9, 2012.

Saturday night was Day 2 of the Omaha Arts and Entertainment Awards Summer Showcase in Benson, and yes it was fun but scheduling issues also made for disappointments. The first act I saw was 20 minutes late to start. The second act was more than a half-hour late. That meant missing a band that I otherwise would have caught. But I guess those things are to be expected when you’re juggling five venues and around 30 bands.

Touch People at The Barley Street, OEA Summer Showcase, June 9, 2012.

Highlights of the evening were Under Water Dream Machine at The Sydney and, of course, Touch People at The Barley Street Tavern. UWDM was backed by two musicians, giving his songs the backing meat they need to work on stage. Bret Vovk has a perfect stage voice on songs that feel like upbeat Simon and Garfunkel pop folk. Keep an eye on him. Touch People a.k.a. Darren Keen’s frenetic electronic music is both throbbing and jittery, chaotic and groovy, with the added attraction of Keen’s unique brand of humor. It’s impossible to not be entertained.

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Robb Nansel, left, and Jason Kulbel stand in front of Slowdown waaay back in June 2007.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The weekend’s hottest ticket is The Mynabirds CD release show tonight at The Slowdown. Joining Laura Burhenn and Co. are Jake Bellows and Honeybee & Hers. And it’s also Slowdown’s fifth birthday. Has it really been five years since Jason and Robb opened the doors to this esteemed club? I guess it has been.

It’s fun to reread this article and see how far the bar has come since opening day. But in all honesty, not much has changed. The club is still primarily a music-themed bar (Though its Science Cafe and Pub Quiz nights have become popular). It beat the rest of Omaha to the punch as a smoke-free facility (Can you even remember what it was like to smoke in a bar?). Dan Brennan and Val Nelson are still there (Well, Dan’s there when he isn’t on the road doing sound for Cursive or another big-name national act). There are still no TVs in the bar (Except, of course, for College World Series weeks and other major sporting events, such as Husker Saturdays). And it’s still all-ages (As long as you have a note from your parents). Slowdown is recognized as one of the best live music venues in the Midwest, hosting some of the best touring indie bands in the country. We’re lucky to have it here in Omaha.

Slowdown’s birthday celebration continues tomorrow night in Slowdown Jr. (i.e., the front room) with Howard, Lightning Bug and Family Picnic. Cover is $5 both nights, and both shows have the usual 9 p.m. start time. Drop down and help the Slowdown crew blow out the candles.

The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards (OEAA) Summer Showcase (oddly named, as summer doesn’t start for a couple more weeks) also is happening tonight and tomorrow. Showcases are being held throughout Benson at The Sydney, The Waiting Room, The Barley Street Tavern and the DP Muller Photography Studio, 6066 Maple St. (one of Saddle Creek Records’ former HQ locations). Tomorrow night PS Collective also is participating. The full band schedule is here. A one-day pass gets you into all the clubs for $10; a two-day pass is $15. As in years past, attendees will be able to vote for their favorite band, and the band with the most votes gets to open the local stage at this year’s Maha Music Festival. Always a good time.

Celebrating nothing but the ability to continue to pour alcohol down people’s throats is O’Leaver’s, who tonight is hosting Snake Island with Across Tundras and Dim Light. Snake Island has been showing off their boss new band T-shirts on Facebook. I might have to swing down there to buy one. $5, 9:30 p.m. This show has been CANCELLED.

Saturday night, Millions of Boys is playing at Studio Gallery, 50th and Dodge, with Jewel Beast, a new band comprised of members from InDreama, Human Pudding, New Lungs, Kathleen Turner Overdrive, and Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship. Also on the bill is Ian Douglas Terry. 9 p.m., $5, 21+, BYOB, more info here.

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Still from The Mynabirds' new Love Drunk video for "Buffalo Flower."

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As the world goes crazy for The Mynabirds, Love Drunk and Hear Nebraska today posted a new video for the song “Buffalo Flower.” You can view the video, which was shot in a Dundee basement, right here.

There’s already rumbling that tomorrow night’s Mynabirds’ CD release show (which also is a 5-year anniversary show for The Slowdown) could sell out, especially at the “Nice Price” of just $5. Better get your tickets now.

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The Mynabirds isn’t the only female-fronted local band with new music. Fronted by signer/songwriter Marta Fiedler, Blue Bird began streaming its entire debut via Spotify yesterday. You can listen from the band’s website, bluebirdlovesyou.com (but you have to have Spotify). Blue Bird’s album release show is June 16 at The Waiting Room.

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Tonight’s Icky Blossoms/Dead Wave show at The Sydney was originally supposed to be a pseudo “secret show,” that was only going to be promoted via word of mouth. But apparently someone spilled the beans, and word of the show began filtering through the internet on via Facebook yesterday evening. Sounds like Howard now also is on the bill. This one could get crowded. 9 p.m., $5.

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Tim Guthrie, right, receives his copy of the Flaming Lips' "blood vinyl" from Jake.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This week’s column in The Reader has some obvious musical overhang. It’s the story of how artist/professor/adventurer Tim Guthrie came into possession of a copy of the ultra-rare Flaming Lips “blood vinyl,” and what he plans to do with it. You can read the column in this week’s issue of The Reader or online right here.

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As detailed on Monday (here), tonight is the debut and presumably only local performance by the “unnamed Jake Bellows band” at O’Leaver’s. It will be a madhouse. The band consists of Bellows (Neva Dinova, Whispertown), Todd Fink (The Faint, Depressed Buttons), Ben Brodin (Mal Madrigal, Our Fox), Ryan Fox (Our Fox, The Good Life) and Heath Koontz (Neva Dinova). Hear Nebraska’s Embedded Music Journalist Michael Todd did an interview with Bellows back in May that mentions this project, which you can read here. Simon Joyner opens. $5, 9:30 p.m., I ‘spect you should get there early…

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A screen capture from The Mynabirds' "Generals" video.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s another big day at Saddle Creek Records (Do you think maybe that’s how they answer their phones?). Two of the label’s expansion acts, The Mynabirds and PUJOL, drop full-length releases today.

Mynabirds’ Generals is getting a favorable launch, thanks to a big 7.5 rating at Pitchfork — one of the highest ratings a Saddle Creek act has received in recent memory (with the exception, of course, of the recent Bright Eyes Fever & Mirrors reissue). The review concludes with: “Burhenn bookends the record with the plea, ‘I’d give it all, for a legacy of love,’ signaling that she’s willing to sacrifice personal gain for the broader good, instead of setting the whole thing ablaze. Maybe it’s just her voice (and god, that voice), but I believe her.” Nice, very nice. This one has received a boatload of media attention, including stream hosting at Team Coco (Conan O’Brien’s website) and a video launch at IFC (which you can view here. The video features some of the Saddle Creek Records staff in Mad Men/Matrix-Agent Smith costuming, and Burhenn backed by yet another version of The Mynabirds — this time an all-female band). Is Laura Burhenn positioned to be the next Jenny Lewis? We’ll have to wait and see.

We’re still waiting for that PUJOL Pitchfork review. Called United States of Being, this release has been on heavy rotation at K-TIM (That’s what I call my iPhone)(Yeah, I know, that’s pretty sad). Consequence of Sound gave it a 4-star review, calling it “the appropriate soundtrack to both an existential meltdown and a rowdy, beer-heavy night out-or maybe both at the same time. It’s in this precarious balance that PUJOL has hit a stride that shows no intention of slowing down.” Hear-hear! In fact, you can “hear” it streamed right here at Rolling Stone.

Saddle Creek has one more big release slated for this summer — the full-length debut by Icky Blossoms — set for July 17.

In other Saddle Creek Records-related news, one of the label’s first “expansion acts” — Two Gallants — has apparently flown the coop. The band announced today that it has signed a deal with ATO Records, who will release their fourth LP, The Bloom and the Blight, Sept. 4.

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The Sons of O'Leaver's, June 2, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we get started, thanks to everyone who imparted birthday wishes upon me over the weekend, whether in person or via Facebook. The ability to get and receive birthday greetings from legions of people you haven’t seen or talked to, sometimes in years, is an unforeseen benefit to Facebook that we never saw when we joined the online service. The cynics will say it’s just more proof of the ongoing de-personalization caused by the internet — but I say it’s just the opposite.

I got a few “happy birthdays” Saturday night when I dropped in at Omaha’s home of booze debauchery, O’Leaver’s, to catch a set by The Sons of O’Leaver’s and Ideal Cleaners. As is their style, the quartet of Tulis, Maxwell, Loftus and Rutledge (a more fearsome law firm name I cannot imagine) were dressed to the nines for this special event, which also happened to be someone else’s birthday party, judging by the cupcakes stacked on the table along the far wall.

This being their first show in about a year and a half, the band took the occasion to roll out some new material as well as a shift in style. Whatever inherent twang they used to have has been drastically diminished. Maxwell still has that slightly muted, raspy croon on music that now sounds influenced by early Spoon and Blue Sky Blue-era Wilco. Rutledge glowed on lead guitar. He can get lost in the mix in some of his other bands. Not so here, revealing some of the best lead solos from him (or anyone in town), just gorgeous stuff that accents every song. As a whole, this was one of the most satisfying sets of music I’ve seen so far this year. So what’s the future hold for the Sons of…? One hopes we’ll be seeing a Sons of The Brothers or Sons of The Slowdown gig in the near future, along with recording of that new material…?

Ideal Cleaners continues to provide the usual pummeling that only the Lincoln trio can provide. The Bad Religion/Fugazi comparisons still seem to fit but are blurred by how Dan Jenkins and the boys put their own stamp on their abrasive, muscular sound.

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It’s a quiet week for shows, though there is one highlight worth mentioning. Ben Brodin from Mal Madrigal and Our Fox, wrote to say that this coming Wednesday a new Jake Bellows band will be performing at O’Leavers with Simon Joyner.

“The band doesn’t have a name yet, so we’ve been unsure about how to announce this show, but it is a special one in that it will be the first time we’ve performed these songs in public,” Brodin said. The band consists of Bellows, Todd Fink, Ryan Fox, Heath Koontz and Brodin, who said the music they’ll be playing was actually recorded last winter/spring.

“Also, since we live in different cities, this will be the only show in the foreseeable future,” Brodin said. “We’d be stoked for people to hear it while everyone is in town. Swing down if you haven’t got anything going on Wednesday.” Bellows apparently did an interview with Hear Nebraska that outlines what the band is and how it took shape, but the story isn’t online yet. Keep an eye on their website.

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by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we get to the music, Benson is hosting its first First Friday (BFF) event this evening. It’s basically an artists’ open house at different locations along Maple St. A good rundown of participating Benson businesses is online here. I think there will be some music associated with BFF, but mostly of the hippie variety.

Now back to regular Lazy-i programming:

Tonight at O’Leaver’s it’s Bullet Proof Hearts (guitarist/vocalist Kevin Moran (Nuns With Guns, The Criminals, New Ave. Kings), drummer Mark Blackman (No Heroes, Apathy, Nuns With Guns, Bad Luck Charm) bassist Tammy Gun (Chicken Hawks, Blue Collar Bravado, Vermins, Take Agent) and guitarist Aaron Schmitz (The Rundowns, The Upsets)) take the stage with Chromafrost (Lincoln Dickison and Co.) and Des Moines band North of Grand. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Side Door Lounge (3530 Leavenworth) it’s All Young Girls are Machine Guns with Skypiper, In Love and Field Club. And I believe this one is free. Starts at 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, it’s the long-awaited return of Omaha legends The Sons of O’Leaver’s. The Sons of… is a veritable supergroup consisting of Kelly Maxwell, Mike Loftus, Mike Tulis and Matt Rutledge. You can read about them circa this rare 2004 interview, but you’re better off just going to the show, which also features Lincoln proto-punkers Ideal Cleaners. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday night, The Brothers Lounge continues to host live music, this time with Baby Tears, Blind Shake and New Lungs. No idea on the cover charge, but probably around $5. Brothers shows usually start around 10.

Which brings us to Sunday night and alt folkers Langhorne Slim & The Law at The Waiting Room. No opener is listed, which is kind of weird. 9 p.m. $10.

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