Ah, Leonard, we hardly knew ye…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A few news clips to share that you may not have stumbled across on Facebook.

— Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor talks about Omaha and compares it to Athens in this Red & Black article that implies Maria still lives in Omaha. Does she? I thought she moved a few years ago.

— Both Beep Beep and Machete Archive get a shout out in this Fayetteville Flyer article about a band called The Inner Party. It just so happens that Ian Francis, who played in both Nebraska bands, played drums on Inner Party’s new album, The Inner Party Makes a Mess.

— The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle joined Conor Oberst on stage for a cover of Tom Petty’s “Walls” during a concert in Sydney, as reported in this Sydney Morning Herald review. When isn’t Oberst out performing. Is he the hardest working singer-songwriter in the business?

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Earlier this week Icky Blossoms announced the presale of their new Saddle Creek Records release Mask and the label already has sold out of the limited edition deluxe vinyl version (only 200 to be pressed). However, you can still order the white vinyl for $17, which comes with a digital download. There are two different release dates for this album — May 12 (CD/Digital) and May 26 (Vinyl).

According to the press release:

The band experimented with making electronics sound organic and organic instruments feel electronic. Song skeletons were embellished with tuned 808’s, hyper-effected mouth noises, screams as instruments, and guitars run through synthesizers. Their influences range from Fad Gadget to Beyonce and the subject matter varies from wrestling with the isolation of existence to the emotional spectrum of love.

Produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) at ARC Studios, contributors include assistant engineer Ben Brodin (Conor Oberst band), bassist Graham Ulicny (Reptar), drummer Daniel Ocanto (Big Harp) and Todd Fink (The Faint).

If this first track off the record is any indication, this could be a big one for the band and the label. Blondie ain’t got nothing on Sarah Bohling…

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So what’s happening this weekend?

Tonight (Friday) sludge/stoner rock band Nightbird is playing at Omaha’s most beloved punk rock bar, The Brothers Lounge. Also on the bill are Members of the Press (featuring Randy Cotton) and Night Push. $5, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, back in Benson, the country stylings of The Electroliners headline at the Barley Street Tavern tonight with 24 Hour Cardlock, The Willards Band and Michael Hinckley. $5, 9 p.m.

Speaking of The Brothers Lounge, the bar is hosting another Bar Stool Record Swap Saturday afternoon starting at 4 p.m. Local records stores such as Almost Music and Homer’s along with other traders will be on hand to sell and trade vinyl. More info here.

Saturday night Satchel Grande returns to The Waiting Room. Joining them is jazz-rock band Old Money. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, Low Long Signal headlines at Reverb Lounge with Anonymous Henchmen and Virgin Mary Pistol Grip. $5, 9 p.m.

Down in Slowdown’s big room Saturday night is Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band. Opening is New Jersey act Dads and Brooklyn’s Field Mouse. $13, 9 p.m.

Finally Sunday night Shy Boys headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Opening is our very own Miniature Horse a.k.a. Rachel Tomlinson Dick, and Chicago baroque pop experimentalist J Fernandez. $5, 9:30 p.m.

That’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a good weekend and as my favorite Vulcan used to say: Live long and prosper.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The latest Lazy-i Podcast is below. Give it a listen. I sound less womanly this time (but no less stupid). By the way, someone asked who the band is playing at the end of the podcast while I’m reading the list of upcoming weekend shows — that’s Underwater Dream Machine a.k.a. Bret Vovk from his overlooked (but not by me) 2012 album A Very Lonely Dream About Space, which is still available for download at this Bandcamp page. Check it out, and see Vovk play at tonight’s fundraiser at the Barley Street (more info below).

Speaking of SoundCloud, Simon Joyner debuted another new song off his upcoming album, Grass, Branch & Bone, headed for release on Woodsist Records. Simon’s publicist just sent me an email three days ago saying the album comes out March 9, but this SoundCloud page says it doesn’t come out until March 31. If I find out which is right, I’ll pass the info along. In the meantime, check out the track. Is it me or has Joyner become a fantastic singer vs. those early, wonky years?

The weekend starts tonight as former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland headlines with his backing band The Wildabouts at The Waiting Room. Opening are The Last Internationale & Stocklyn. $25 today, $27 Thursday.

Also tonight is a fundraiser for Ashley and Michael Trenhaile at The Barley Street Tavern. Michael, a member of the Donefits, suffered a debilitating brain hemorrhage and money raised at the show will help with medical and family expenses. Among the bands performing are Loose Cannon, Backwater Spawn, The Fergesens, Bret Vovk and more. The show starts at 9 and donations will be taken at the door.

And over at Slowdown Jr., Omaha hip-hop act BOTH plays with Dream House, ROTHSTEEN, Zay Gaines, PG. $7, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The new episode of the Lazy-i Weekly Podcast is online right here. In this week’s episode:

— Is vinyl just a fad? Homer’s General Manager Mike Fratt chimes in about how vinyl is a big part of today’s music business.
— New music from Criteria — the first in eight years.
— Reviews of Matt Whipkey, John Klemmensen, Fire Retarded and Dumb Beach, including a live music samples from the performances.
— News from Father John Misty, and the Hear Nebraska Vol. 3 Kickstarter
— A list of the hottest shows happening this coming weekend.

It’s 28 wasted minutes of your life you’ll never get back, but who cares, it’s free. Check it out.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Clinch Mob Compilation

Criteria has contributed a song to an album benefiting longtime Lincoln musician Pat Clinch, who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Money generated from the sale of the compilation, titled The Clinch Mob Compilation, will go to Pat and his family to help with medical expenses.

The Criteria track, titled “Cold Paralyzed,” is the first release of a new song by Criteria in eight years. It’s just one of 23 tracks, which includes b-sides, unreleased tracks and yet-to-be released from bands such as Ideal Cleaners, Head of Femur, Pablos Triangle, Crush the Clown, Strawberry Burns, Ghost Runners, as well as Jack Hotel, Mezcal Brothers, Panda Face, The Renfields and The Bottle Tops.

You can buy a digital download of the album for $10 (or more) by going to clinchmob.bandcamp.com/releases.

Check out the Criteria track below, then go buy your copy.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Fire Retarded at O’Leaver’s Feb. 21, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was a long weekend of shows, a good weekend.

Friday night was the big Matt Whipkey album release party at The Waiting Room. Matt can be a rather polarizing figure in the Omaha music scene, but there’s one fact no one can refute — when it comes to the press, Whipkey works his ass off. This show was mentioned or featured in every print publication in town, not to mention a slew of local morning radio programs, a few of which Whipkey even performed on. Seems like everywhere you turned, whether on air, in print or online, there was Matt Whipkey hawking his new record and imploring people to come to his show.

Well, all that hard work paid off as The Waiting Room was indeed crowded last Friday night. No, it wasn’t a sell out, but it was tough to make it across the dance floor when Whipkey and his band started their set.

Whipkey’s style has been consistent over the past decade — he’s a showman, always demanding the crowd’s attention when he’s center stage with an electric guitar slung over his shoulder, maniacally flipping that Omaha-famous head of hair. In a city known for its indie rock, Whipkey remains content playing traditional American-style rock ‘n’ roll that boils down to big riffs, big hooks, plenty of guitar solos and lyrics about life in these United States.

The new album, Underwater, is a step forward for Whipkey to a more mature song craft than heard on his coming-of-age concept album Penny Park, a record that, if you ever wondered what the songs were about, all you had to do was look at the photo on the album sleeve. The new record sounds more personal and introspective but no less pop-focused. Whipkey may idolize Springsteen, but his style has more in common with John Fogerty on the album’s up-jump tracks. When he slows it down, picks up an acoustic guitar or straps a harmonica ’round his neck, he channels old school, MOR open-chord crooners that were the staple of ’70s-era FM radio. He is un-apologetically not indie, and wouldn’t have it any other way.

Matt Whipkey and his band at The Waiting Room, Feb. 20, 2015.

Neither would his crowd, who grooved to the rock and never failed to recognize another golden Whipkey guitar solo. I saw plenty of people walking around with copies of Underwater tucked beneath their arm, its back cover sporting a stoic photo of Whipkey, his hair, and his Raybans, staring stoically out into the crowd.

The obvious question after the media build-up that comes with a release show: Now what? The answer is touring, and Whipkey has said that’s exactly what he intends to do, focusing his road-work on central Nebraska. Can he become a regional success story? There’s no question he has a style that could resonate throughout the rural Heartland.

John Klemmensen closed out Whipkey’s album release show at The Waiting Room, Feb. 20, 2015.

The new trend for headliners these days is to place their set in the second slot of the evening. That was the case Friday night when John Klemmensen and the Party followed Whipkey with a set of bluesy rockers. I haven’t seen John and his band play in more than a year. While his voice and lyrics haven’t changed much (He still boasts Nebraska’s biggest broken heart) his music has. Instead of the usual laid-back mellow crooning, Klemmensen is now uncorking harder, louder arrangements that aren’t afraid to lean away from blues pop to a more indie-fied power rock, a natural reflection of Klemmensen’s love of golden age Omaha indie-punk and post-punk.

There is a theatrical element to his rock songs that reminds me of — dare I say it — Meatloaf and John Steinman, but without the keyboards. I credit the first-person honesty of his lyrics, brazenly unashamed of letting his emotional baggage hang out for everyone to see. Klemmensen has nothing to hide, and that’s what makes his music so good.

A quick note about the recent upgrades to The Waiting Room. The club now sports a shiny new tile floor, raised booths and a brand new bar. This is the third or fourth time that The Waiting Room has made enhancements to their club since it opened in 2007, which shows the owners’ ongoing commitment to being the best music venue in Omaha.

Dumb Beach at O’Leaver’s, Feb. 21, 2015.

Saturday night was a bracing change of pace as O’Leaver’s hosted a punk show with two of the better-named bands to grace their rec-room-styled stage: Madison Wisconsin’s Fire Retarded and Omaha’s own Dumb Beach.

Saturday’s gig was the last on Fire Retarded’s tour and the dudes sounded happy to end it in Omaha. Call it garage punk, I guess. Hard charging. Break-neck. Gritty. Rat-tailed and not so angry as much as just trying to have a good time. Their set started almost acidicly punk before infusing a bit of swing about halfway through, at times becoming downright tuneful.

Next was Dumb Beach. One of the things I forgot to mention last week in the podcast is that the band sports two — count them two — drummers. I’ve seen the two-drummer thing a few times in the past. With other bands, it’s an easy way to add theatrical flair to their rather drab stage presences. But that’s never been a problem with these guys, who resemble a team of buzzed-out Dr. Drew rehabbers out on a punk-rock work release program.

No, this duo-drum set up is an aggressive stab at bringing even more power to Dumb Beach’s already bludgeoning sound. Someone told me it was like watching a pair of synchronized swimmers, perfectly timed, perfectly choreographed, as they bashed the shit out of their drum kits. Do they really need two drummers? Does any band? I say screw it, why not? If you haven’t seen these guys, you need to.

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Hear Nebraska, Vol. 3

This morning Hear Nebraska launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the vinyl pressing of its third compilation, deftly titled Hear Nebraska Vol. 3.  The record features 10 songs from Nebraska bands on 12-inch, mixed-color (purple-pink-black) vinyl. Hear Nebraska calls it “a masterfully crafted, sonically stellar collectible that will serve as an integral Nebraska historical document.”

Bands on this year’s HN comp are John Klemmensen and the Party, Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers, The Bottle Tops, Jake Bellows, M34N STR33T, BOTH (featuring Rothsteen), Halfwit, Ladyfinger and Cursive.

The release is limited to 500 copies and comes with a digital download. A $20 pledge gets you a copy of the vinyl, but you’ll want to check out the other premiums. Hear Nebraska is shooting to raise $4,000 over the next 28 days. They’re already more than a quarter of the way there. Check it out.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Matt Whipkey circa 2005. Whips and his band play tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And so, the weekend.

The show getting the most press is tonight’s release party for Matt Whipkey’s new self-released album, Underwater, at The Waiting Room. Is there a media outlet that Matt hasn’t either been interviewed by or appeared on over the past couple weeks? I think not. Add to that all the people who took part in his Kickstarter campaign and there’s bound to be a big crowd at TWR. Kait Berreckman Band opens at 9 p.m., then Whipkey and his band take the stage, followed by John Klemmensen and the Party. $8.

Also tonight, Saturn Moth headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and Timecat. This is the first Noah’s Ark show in quite a while. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Here’s some Noah’s Ark from 2008:

Saturday night it’s back to O’Leaver’s for one of my local faves, Dumb Beach. They’re opening for Fire Retarded, an act made up of members of Giant People, The New Years Gang and The Hussy. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday night See Through Dresses plays at Reverb Lounge with Eric in Outerspace. Drinking associated with Beer Week starts at 6 p.m. Bands start at 9:30 and the show is absolutely FREE.

Finally Sunday night Dana Point, California band The Growlers play at The Waiting Room. Their sound has been called “Beach Goth” and psychedelic surf rock. They’ve released stuff on Burger Records, though their latest album, Chinese Fountain, was released on Ever-loving Records. American Culture opens 9 p.m $13.

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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I received lottts of feedback on the Lazy-i Weekly Wrap-Up podcast, and welcome more if you feel like sharing. Recording these things ain’t easy. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the podcast is below.

No. 1 complaint was that I don’t sound like “me” on the podcast. One person said I sound like an old lady. Another said I sound like a hedgehog wearing glasses (great idea for a podcast mascot). Someone pointed out that I sound like I was reading something. That’s because I was. Fact is I’m trying to put these together as easily as possible, grabbing items that appeared in the past week’s Lazy-i entries, along with audio clips recorded at shows. I’m never going to write a brand new, 3,000-word script every week.  It’ll evolve… probably.

What else…

I was bummed when I went to buy my ticket to the April 8 Father John Misty show at The Waiting Room and discovered it was sold out. But fear not. One Percent moved the show to Sokol Auditorium, and $20 tickets are now on sale once again. It would be quite a feat if he sold out a venue that size.

I went recently ’round and ’round with someone about Misty’s new album, I Love You, Honeybear, which came out a couple weeks ago. The other guy didn’t like it. He said it was over-produced and too mainstream. And while I agree there is an abundance of strings on some tracks, I still dig the record. Misty a.k.a. J. Tillman is one of the better lyric writers out there these days, and this album showcases that talent in a way can only be described as “nostalgic.” The record sounds like it was produced four decades ago. It sounds like music  they used to play on KFAB in the ’70s, the kind of music they now play on (the still operating) Magic 1490 AM — lush, tuneful, old-fashioned and familiar.

To me, Misty/Tillman sounds like a cross between Grant Lee Buffalo and ’70s-era Elton John mixed with modern-day songsters such as Iron & Wine or Shearwater (though Tillman is much funnier than those two rather stoic outfits). He’s been compared to Nilsson, which I get. Is the new record as good as his last album? Who knows, but it’s definitely worth checking out, and worth buying tickets to the show.

Check out his recent Letterman appearance, singing my favorite song off the new record.

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Speaking of shows, there’s only one show worth mentioning tonight: The Barley Street Tavern is hosting a Tribute to Johnny Cash. Among the performers are Lash LaRue & the Hired Guns, Pat Gehrman, Brad Hoshaw, Michael J. Fillmore, Joe Watson, Josh Watson, Stephanie Krysl, Travis Sing and Daniel Burns. It’s worth going out in the cold. $5, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Put together a weekly podcast? Sure, I’ve got nothing better to do with my time.

By popular demand, I present to you the Lazy-i Weekly Wrap-Up Podcast — a collection of local indie music news, comments and reviews from the web pages of Lazy-i.com, plus music samples from live shows and upcoming releases, as well as a look at the best shows happening in the coming weekend, and beyond, all hosted by yours truly.

Featured in Episode 1:

— New music by For Against’s Jeff Runnings, including a sample from the upcoming album.
— Reviews of Take Cover, Dumb Beach and Bass Drum of Death, including a live music sample from Sweatshop Gallery.
— News from Desaparecidos and All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
— A live review of last weekend’s Sleater-Kinney concert, with a live music clip.
— And an interview with Matt Whipkey about his new album, Underwater.

It’s 20 wasted minutes of your life you’ll never get back, but who cares, it’s free. Check it out right here at The Reader‘s website.

God help us all.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The main reason for this update is to hype the Whole Foods / Hear Nebraska promotion. It’s this: Whole Foods in both Lincoln and Omaha is donating 5 percent of every purchase made at their stores to Hear Nebraska all day and all night. That’s not all: Lucky Bucket Brewery and Zipline Brewery are providing tastings from 5 to 7 p.m., and, yes, there will be music. Here in Omaha Jessica Errett and Kait Berreckman are playing from 6 to 7 p.m., while in Lincoln, Hear Nebraska managing editor Chance Solem-Pfeifer and Evan Bartels are playing from 5 to 7 p.m.

I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot in Whole Foods, but I’m planning on making a trip just for this special occasion. You should, too.

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What else… I haven’t listened to it yet but I’m told the Conor Oberst interview with Marc Maron is pretty right on. Kevin Coffey at the Omaha World-Herald has some excepts and a link to the interview/podcast right here.

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Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s Talking Mountain Is Dead — presumably the last time you’ll hear Jason Meyer play Talking Mountain songs. I don’t believe it (and it doesn’t matter if I did). Helping “bury the mountain” will be Michael Parallax and METH DAD. This “very special episode of Talking Mountain” starts at 9:30 and costs $5.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Sleater-Kinney at The Slowdown, Feb. 13, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Sleater-Kinney have never been on top of my “must-listen-to” list. There’s just something harsh and forced about their music, an abrasiveness that utterly lacks melody. It’s tough to sing along to an S-K song unless it’s something mellow like “Modern Girl” off The Woods, which is not characteristic of the band’s usual sound.

Their new album, No Cities to Love, fits right in with the rest of their catalog — a bracing punk rock record loaded with shrill vocals, singing about what I do not know. The title track says it’s not the cities but the weather they love. The rest of the song, the verses, are cryptic: “Atomic tourist / A life in search of power / I found my test sight / I made a ritual of emptiness.” And so on. It’s not so much the words that matter as the energy, and S-K exuded it Friday night at The Slowdown in front of a sold out crowd who loved every minute of it.

The trio, joined by an extra guitarist, rolled right into their set with gusto, with guitarist/vocalist Corin Tucker taking the lead as she would throughout the night, spitting out vocals over the din. There is little doubt that she is the leader of this band, though Carrie Brownstein is the crowd favorite thanks to a brighter, less jagged voice and her notoriety as an actress in Portlandia. Brownstein is a real star among indie stars.

I spent a good part of their set trying to figure out where the bass was coming from, as no one was playing bass guitar. It turned out (I think) that Brownstein and Tucker were trading turns playing their bass strings, though I swear at times neither was playing bass.

Despite taking a few years off the road, the band played as if they’d never left after The Woods came out almost a decade ago. If there was any ring rust, it came early in the set when Tucker sounded like she was trying a bit too hard on vocals (as she does at times on the record). As the set rolled on the band loosened up and got into a groove, injecting more soul into the music.

Holding it all down was drummer Janet Weiss, mesmerizing behind the kit and further enforcing the old punk adage that you’re only as good as your drummer. That being the case, Sleater-Kinney remains one of the finer punk rock bands that emerged out of the ’90s. And while I still don’t care much for their records, after last Friday’s show I’ve grown a new appreciation for their live stuff, which sounds less stiff and more…human than what they’ve put down in the studio.

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While Sleater-Kinney was slaying it at The Slowdown, fellow Seattle-ite Damien Jurado was having less of a good time in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The acoustic folk artist berated the audience at Kalamazoo State Theater after they just wouldn’t shut up. According to this MLive report, during his opening set for Jason Isbell, Jurado was pushed over the edge.

“The best way for me to do my job is to not be distracted by your talking,” Jurado scolded. “If you want to talk there’s lots of room and people out there talking, but this is not the place to do it, okay?”

It goes on from there, peaking with “Laugh all you want man, seriously, but this is not funny. This is my job.”  And, of course, the entire exchange was captured on video, which you can watch here. We’ve all been at shows where the crowd isn’t paying attention to what’s going on up on stage. I, for one, have to hand it to Jurado for telling them to shut up.

No doubt Omaha audiences are much more respectful than Kalamazoo’s, right? So if you’re headed to The Waiting Room tonight to see Jurado headline, take your chatter out to the sidewalk. No one wants to hear it, least of all Jurado, who is on the road supporting last year’s Secretly Canadian release Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Sun. Opening is Oquoa’s Max Holmquist. $15, 9 p.m.

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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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.