Zola Jesus at Elysium, SXSW, March 14, 2012. The band plays at The Waiting Room tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I listened to the new Zola Jesus album, Okovi, all morning. Its description doesn’t match its content. I was expecting a very droll, very somber experience. In fact, the record is probably the poppiest, most upbeat thing Rosa Danilova and Co. have done. She reminds me of very early Sinead O’Connor vocally, compositionally; maybe Kate Bush as well. Read her Ten Questions here.

So I was on the fence between going to that show, which has an 8 p.m. start time with two openers (and a cost of $15) and Palm, who is playing right around the corner at Reverb.

Palm’s new album, Shadow Expert, is something of a departure from their 2015 release, Trading Basics, though no less mathy, disjointed, proggy. The songs have a similar jangled urgency but with better central melodies, more focused, more pop. That Palm show also has the benefit of solid openers. Our very own Thick Paint is on the bill — always a good time — along with Brooklyn trio Real Life Buildings.

And the Palm show is a bargain at $12, but that 9 p.m. start time on a school night… See you at Zola.

Also tonight, emo-punk band The Menzingers are playing at Sokol Underground — yes, Sokol Underground. Salt Creek and Centerpiece open. 8 p.m., $20.

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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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.