Oh Pep! plays Friday night at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Oh Pep! is the Aussie duo of Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs. They started as pop folkies but evolved into an indie band influenced by acts like Paul Kelly, Leonard Cohen, Glen Hansard, Elbow and Arcade Fire. Their latest, Stadium Cake (2016, Dualtone) is an acoustic-powered folk-rock album that recalls acts like early Jenny Lewis, upbeat Azure Ray or laid-back Angel Olsen — gorgeous melodies eclipsed by gorgeous-er harmonies.

We caught up with the band via the interwebs with our Ten Questions survey. Here’s what they said:

1. What is your favorite album?

Pep: Shrek, the soundtrack.

2. What is your least favorite song?

Liv: You haven’t heard it, but we wrote it the other day.

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

Pep: Writing music, performing music, travelling.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

Liv: Being intimately aware of which direction your band members are breathing in when travelling in the van.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Pep: Water.

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

Pep: Melbourne, our home town. New York City, our second home. Omaha, our third home.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

Pep: There have been a couple of pre-show pukes, but we can’t pin that on one particular place.

8. How do you pay your bills?

Pep: …with money.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Liv: Well, I went to law school for a brief minute. In saying that, maybe I wouldn’t have liked being a lawyer so much, who knows…

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Pep: I heard there’s a killer gig coming up there at The Waiting Room. Oh, and that Bright Eyes are from Omaha, Nebraska!

Oh Pep! opens for The Mountain Goats Friday, Sept. 30, at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Tickets are $25; showtime is 9 p.m. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com

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NPR today started streaming the new solo album by Conor Oberst, Ruminations (Out Oct. 14 on Nonesuch Records). It’s been marketed as a spare, solitary record featuring Conor and his guitar or piano and a harmonica, and that’s pretty much what it is — a throw-back of sorts to the early days, though there’s nothing low-fi about the recording (but one old-school touch is back on a few of these tracks: Conor’s classic shaky bray).

It’s what we used to call a bedroom recording, the same way I guess that Springsteen’s Nebraska was a bedroom album. You get a vision of Conor sitting alone in one of the many rooms in his Fairacres estate with a glass of something sitting next to a burning cigarette and a tape recorder. Quite a contrast to the big-production recordings of the last few Oberst / Bright Eyes records. It crossed my mind what Mogis would have done with these songs if given free reign.

I’ve only listened through it once. It’s good. Check it out at NPR.org…

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Liverpool band The Wombats play at The Waiting Room tonight. Though defined as an indie band, their records have reportedly sold more than a million copies world-wide. Their latest album, Glitterbug, came out last year on 14th Floor Records / Bright Antennae. Label mates MONA from Nashville opens. $20, 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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.