A screen cap from Cursive’s “Life Savings” video, featuring a killer Tim Kasher.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Not only do I not go to horror movies, I don’t watch them when they’re on TV. I just don’t like knife-kill flicks, gore and blood, violence-porn, etc. I get that people dig that stuff, it’s just not my thing.

So when I saw that Cursive’s brand new video for “Life Savings,” a track off the just-released Vitriola album, was a take off on gorror flicks I dreaded having to watch it. But then I saw a screen cap of frontman Tim Kasher getting hatcheted (oops, spoiler alert) and thought “OK, I can handle this.” I mean, who hasn’t wanted to take a hatchet to Kasher at some point, right? Not to mention that mega-star Jake Bellows also has a star-turn as a victim. It’s gross fun! Check it out below, and get a copy of this fine, fine album.

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Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Denver’s Bud Bronson and the Good Timers headline a special Halloween program. The band is on the road touring their new album, Between The Outfield And Outer Space, which came out a couple weeks ago.

“This will be our second LP, our fourth time in Omaha, and the last show of our album-release tour,” said Good Timer Brian Beer.  “As it is Halloween, we will also be wearing costumes.” That doesn’t mean you have to, of course, but you know… Also on the bill are the always amazing Wagon Blasters. Dross, featuring members of Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and Mint Wad Wall, opens at 9 p.m. $10.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Faint have a new song out on Saddle Creek. Photo by Bill Sitzmann.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

“American Trap,” the second track from the upcoming Those Far Out Arrows album, Part Time Lizards, dropped yesterday.

Sayeth Arrows’ member Evan Keelan-White, via Anchr Magazine: “American Trap’ sends a clear message about what’s happening in our world today. There’s no hiding the content and the intentionality of the lyrics. We encourage everyone to avoid the American trap, which can manifest in unique ways from person to person. The ‘American dream’ has failed so many generations of Americans…lies, deceit, and broken promises.”

Part Time Lizards comes out via High Dive Records this Friday.

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If you haven’t heard by now, The Faint is back with a new track released via Saddle Creek Records called “Chameleon Nights.” With three dates slated for the balance of the year, could we see a new album by the lads in early 2019? Time will tell.

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I stand corrected for a statement made in yesterday’s blog post. I said the new Young Jesus album received the highest rating of any Saddle Creek Release from Pitchfork (BTW, I tried to confirm this Sunday night). Well yesterday the label reminded me Twitter that Big Thief’s Capacity album from last year earned an 8.3, while Hop Along’s Get Disowned, a reissue from 2016, earned an 8.5.

Who remembers the old days when Saddle Creek releases had to beg for anything above a 6?

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Young Jesus at O’Leaver’s, Oct. 28, 2018.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

On the surface, Saddle Creek Records’ addition of Young Jesus to its roster would appear to be a real thinking-outside-the-box moment for a label that’s prided itself on releasing some of the best singer/songwriter indie rock over the past 20 years.

Young Jesus’ new album, The Whole Thing Is Just There, has the auspicious honor of including the longest track ever released by a Saddle Creek band, “Gulf,” a tune that clocks in at just over 20 minutes. On first blush the entire record seems experimental bordering on art project. That said, The Whole Thing… also has the honor of being the highest-rated Saddle Creek release reviewed by Pitchfork, coming in at a staggering 8.1 rating. In Pitchfork terms, that’s genius level.

The Whole Thing… is about as far away from being a pop album as anything Saddle Creek has released since Beep Beep back in the ’00s. And on first listen, it can be a challenge, but I have to admit the record goes down better after seeing these guys live last night at O’Leaver’s. Following what sounded like an improvised jazz-rock instrumental, they launched into “Green,” the opening track off their Saddle Creek rerelease S/T, which, yes, sounds like an indie rock song.

The rest of the set included songs off the new album, including standout track “Deterritory” and set closer, “Gulf,” whose center section consisted of a free jazz improvisational noise collage that bent back into the opening chords and took all of its 20-plus minutes.

After the set. the house music was tracks off the Cap’n Jazz anthology Analphabetapolothology (Jade Tree, 1998) that someone aptly pointed out was appropriate considering the similarity between the bands’ sounds. While possible free-form at its core, there’s obvious structure to Young Jesus’ songs, a method to the madness that made me rethink the album (which I listened to again on the drive home). I don’t know if it will be a big seller for Saddle Creek, but it adds credibility to their vision of releasing music not necessarily for commercial sake, but because they love it.

Thick Paint at O’Leaver’s, Oct. 28, 2018.

I caught the last half of Thick Paint’s opening set and it was the usual amazing, intricate, tuneful rock that they’ve become known for. A different player on bass (usual bassist Sarah Bohling is on the road with David Nance, I believe) didn’t throw off their game a bit. Call it indie prog. The mystery continues as to who is going to put out this band’s next album.

Ian Sweet at O’Leaver’s, Oct. 28, 2018.

Last night’s show, which was originally scheduled to start at 6, didn’t get rolling until after 7 because the bands were late getting to town. As a result, headliner Ian Sweet didn’t go on until after 10. Playing as a three-piece, the set was harder and more abrasive than what I was expecting having heard her new album — i.e., it rocked, at least for the four songs I caught before I headed home.

Hey O’Leaver’s, I love these early Sunday shows. Keep them coming!

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Jason Steady and the Soft Ponies at Burrito Envy, Oct. 26, 2018.

I think I might be the only person I know that likes the food at Burrito Envy. I had three tacos, chips and salsa and a couple fine margaritas there Friday night before I caught a set by Jason Steady and the Soft Ponies.

All the way back to the Talking Mountain days, Steady’s style has been funny, friendly, good-time jangle rock with a slightly disconcerting message just below the surface, a message that’s hard to decipher when he and his ponies — a guy on a stripped-down drum kit and a backing vocalist/percussionist — are making you bounce in your seat to their sunny, good-time music, that included a couple country-esque indie pop ditties. Fun.

Steady is a natural showman, punctuating his set with between-song banter that makes you think he’d be the perfect host for a Pee-Wee’s Playhouse-style children’s program on Nick or PBS Kids. All he needs is some puppets, and anyone who knows Steady knows that’s well within his reach. Nothing would make my Saturday mornings better…

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Thick Paint at Slowdown Jr., March 30, 2018. The open for Ian Sweet and Young Jesus Sunday at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Looks like Simon Joyner no longer is leading the Bemis’s new Sound Art and Experimental Music Residency Program mentioned here a couple days ago.

From the Bemis Center Facebook page:

Simon Joyner will not be leading the program. We will soon be opening a national job posting to find the best candidate to lead this program. Additional decisions about the program will be made after a reevaluation of the needs is complete. These changes and decisions take time.

It also appears, via Facebook, that producer Ben Brodin never was permanently involved in the project, but merely assisted early in offering some ideas about the space.

Joyner being named to the position last week sparked concern targeted at The Bemis Center. As Kevin Coffey reported yesterday in the GO Section of Omaha World-Herald, the Bemis organization fielded a number of e-mails, text messages and posts on social media. “The responses that we received were either supporting Simon or asking the Bemis to reconsider him as someone that would manage this new program, which we’re obviously thrilled to be launching next year,” said Bemis Executive Director Chris Cook in the OWH article.

Concerns about Joyner stemmed from his use of the N-word in a song he wrote that targeted racists and racism in America, released in 2017. Reporting on the controversy appeared in The Reader last November as well as in Lazy-i, which included a Q&A with Joyner about the topic.

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BTW, tonight’s Bemis benefit concert featuring Azure Ray / Destroyer (solo) is sold out.

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It’s the unofficial Halloween weekend at the clubs, which means krazy kostumes and very few live shows. Boo! (pun intended).

There’s a fundraiser tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s for Kara Eastman. DJ Tyrone Storm (a.k.a. Roger Lewis), Dirt House, Sean Pratt and Stephen Bartolomei are all slated to perform. The show runs 8 to 11 p.m. and suggested donation is $10.

And here’s a walk on the wild side: Jason Steady and the Soft Ponies are playing a free gig at Burrito Envy in Benson tonight. Bradley Unit also is on the bill that starts at 9 p.m.

And there’s a real hum-dinger of a show going on at O’Leaver’s Sunday in the early evening featuring Ian Sweet, Young Jesus and Thick Paint. Sweet’s new album Crush Crusher came out today on Hardly Art. Young Jesus, the latest addition to the Saddle Creek Records roster, released their new LP, The Whole Thing Is There, last week. And Thick Paint is one of Omaha’s hottest properties. All three bands for just $7. Starts at 6 p.m. Get your tickets online here.

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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

The Lupines at The Brothers Lounge Feb. 19, 2018. They’ve got a return engagement tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Twin Cities invasion tonight at two of Omaha’s favorite drinking clubs.

Over at fabulous O’Leaver’s you got Lunch Duchess, which the club describes as a “feminist grunge-pop band from Minneapolis, featuring a singing drummer and just the right amount of angular guitar solos.” Angular. Hussies headline. The Sunks open at 9 p.m. $5.

Meanwhile, down the street at The Brothers Lounge it’s Panther Ray, which they describe as “garage psychedelic from Saint Paul, MN.” See below. One of my all-time favorite Omaha rock bands, The Lupines, open at 9:30. $5.

Paper Magazine calls Flint Eastwood “the queer, Detroit artist making vulnerability cool again.” Her latest EP, This Is A Coping Mechanism For A Broken Heart, is coming out on Neon Gold, a label whose roster includes Charlie XCX and Your Smith, among others. It’s synth-pop. Dig it below. Omaha’s Jocelyn opens this one at 8 p.m. $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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Tickets are running low to the Azure Ray / Destroyer solo show this Friday…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This morning I got a “low ticket warning” about this Friday’s Azure Ray / Dan Bejar (Destroyer solo) show at the Bemis Center Okada Sculpture & Ceramics Facility in Omaha’s Old Market (723 South 12th Street). “Just a few $25 tickets remain” they’re saying.

The concert is part of the Bemis Art Auction and Concert 2018. Get your tickets online here.

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Speaking of Azure Ray, a video for “Palindrome,” the first single off their upcoming EP Waves, dropped last Friday and it’s a hoot. It’s directed by Alan Tanner, who you might remember from the band Artsy Golfer (he also played guitar for Maria Taylor). Waves comes out Friday, and I must tell you, it’s sublime.

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And speaking of The Bemis, Simon Joyner has been named to head The Bemis’ Sound Art and Experimental Music Residency Program. This is a MAJOR deal…

Here’s the Bemis press release, which went out last week:

“Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts has received a $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a new Sound Art and Experimental Music Residency Program. This funding will support the first three years of a specialized track within Bemis Center’s international Artist-in-Residence program for artists pushing the boundaries of sound, composition, voice, and music of all genres. National and international artists participating in the program will receive the same level of financial, technical, and administrative support as their fellow artists-in-residence at Bemis, along with dedicated facilities for rehearsing, recording, and performing new works that expand the field of sound art and music. The program will officially launch in 2019.

“Omaha-based musician Simon Joyner will join Bemis staff to lead the program. Local sculptor and past Bemis exhibiting artist Sean Ward and local architect Jeff Day of Actual Architecture are collaborating with Joyner, and sound experts Phil Schaffart, Thorin Dickey, and Ben Brodin to design the program’s performance venue and rehearsal and recording studio in Bemis Center’s 25,000 square foot basement space. Under the guidance of Day, graduate-level architecture students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s design-build program, FACT, are developing conceptual designs for the build-out and will begin construction in October 2018 with completion in early 2019.

“The fully equipped artist-designed performance space will offer free live shows to the community. When artists in the program are not utilizing the venue, it will be programmed with local, national and international sound artists and experimental musicians. Free public access to these performances aims to not only build greater appreciation and new audiences for sound art and experimental music but also to liberate the artists on stage to take risks and present avant-garde work.

“An international advisory committee comprised of artists, curators and other leading experts in the field will assist with the curation of the Sound Art and Experimental Music Residency Program for 2019 and 2020. Beginning in 2020, Sound Art and Experimental Music residencies for 2021 and beyond will transition to Bemis Center’s regular annual open call for applications.”

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Summer Cannibals at O’Leaver’s, Aug. 21, 2015. They return to the club Saturday night.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Semi-busy weekend show-wise.

Here’s one that was under my radar, probably because I never heard of these guys (and they’re on a major label). Peach Pit is Vancouver band signed to Columbia that’s been around since 2016. They describe their sound as melding “teenage angst with bummer summer vibes that have them sounding somewhere between Mac Demarco and Homeshake.”

That description alone would be enough for me move onto something else, but when I listened to a couple of their tracks on Spotify I was intrigued. Their new album, Being So Normal, was originally released on Vancouver indie label Kingfisher Bluez. They kind of remind me of upbeat Pernice Brothers crossed with Susto. Strangely, there’s virtually no listing on Allmusic.com and not much else about them online, and yet tonight’s show at Slowdown Jr. is sold out, so the word’s gotten out about them somehow.

Opening is Nashville indie act Sun Seeker who’s 2017 album Biddeford was released by Third Man Records. $12, 9 p.m.

Also tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s: Advance Base is the project of Chicago’s Owen Ashworth (fka Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). The new album, Animal Companionship, is “about humans and their relationships with their pets: what pets mean to their owners and how those animal relationships affect our human relationships and vice versa.” Who couldn’t love that?

This is a massive four-band bill with Philly act Friendship, Hartford/Focht and Mike Schlessinger. $7, 9 p.m.

If that weren’t enough, punk legends Millions of Dead Cops (MDC) roll into Lookout Lounge tonight. Here’s a column I wrote about these dudes 13 years ago. Local punkers RAF and Top-Notch Defective open at 9 p.m. $15.

Tomorrow night it’s back to O’Leaver’s for the return of Summer Cannibals. The Portland four-piece plays an infectious style of indie rock which sounds influenced by acts like Sleater-Kinney or Girl in a Coma. Their new album Full Of It is out now on Kill Rock Stars. This is yet another massive four-band bill with Hussies headlining, The Cult of Lip and The Natural States opening at 9:30 p.m.

And that’s all I got. If I forgot 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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Those Far Out Arrows’ new album, Part Time Lizards, comes out Nov. 2 on High Dive Records.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Apologies for not mentioning last night’s get-out-the-vote program at The Sydney (something came up). From what I’ve read in social media, it sounds like it went over well, though I’m told there were some notable no-shows by politicians.

There’s another voter rally coming up, this time at The B. Bar, 4330 Leavenworth St. (the old Castle Barrett), and Conor Oberst will be among the performers. It’s a couple days before the election, Nov. 4. Also on the bill are Miwi La Lupa and Edem Soul Music according to Kevin’s article in the OWH.

The event is sponsored by Kara Eastman, who is running against Don “Frying Pan” Bacon (I don’t know if that’s his real nick-name; I only know him from his frying pan ads. Is that a wrought-iron skillet, Mr. Bacon?).

Elections are 19 days away, people.

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Dark. Majestic. Metal. Omaha 4-piece rock band Pro Magnum released a new 3-song 7-inch opus earlier this month designed to fry your head off.

The band consists of Alex Kinnerk, guitar; John Laughlin, guitar; Pat Oakes, drums and frontman John Vredenburg on bass and vocals. Recorded and mixed by Ben Brodin at the world-famous ARC Studios, the 7-inch also features eye-burning artwork by Devin Ferguson.

This is some heavy shit, but its crazy melodic. If you’re a Maiden/Priest devotee, you’re in luck. Get your copy of “Knight Speed” b/w “Easy to Sin” at Max Trax Records.

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The first song from the upcoming Those Far Out Arrows album, Part Time Lizards (2018, High Dive Records), dropped Oct. 10. The track “Be Alright” is “an acknowledgment of the fact that not everything will work out the way you intended, but in the end works just fine; it’s all up to you,” said band member Evan Keelan White in this New Noise article.

The Arrows are in the middle of a lengthy U.S. tour, playing tonight in Lafayette on their way back to Omaha for a gig at O’Leaver’s Oct. 25. You can pre-order the new album, which comes out Nov. 2, from the High Dive Bandcamp page.

Singer/songwriter Jeremy Mercy plays at The Barley Street Tavern tonight with Ian Lund. 9 p.m. and free!

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Cursive albums always get the full critical once-over, but this new one, Vitriola, is really getting the treatment. In addition to being such a great album, critics remember the band and have the back-knowledge to make comparisons. And they are.

Cursive, Vitriola (2018, 15 Passenger)

Pop Matters called Vitriola “among Cursive’s most ambitious work.” But of the 10 or so reviews for the record currently out there, this was the most negative. Check it: “When Kasher and his bandmates really have something to say, this scream can be a revelation; when they don’t, it sounds stilted, silly, like it’s issuing from a mouth that has nothing to scream for but still screams anyway.” Ouch. They gave the record the lowest rating of the 10 reviews so far, scoring a 5 out of 10.

On the other hand, there’s DIY, which called Vitriola “a fiercely political record, but one that seldom feels trite; married to the aggressive tone of a band back to make a point, it’s a razor-sharp lament of America in 2018.” Whoa! Their rating: Four out of five stars. Solid.

But maybe the only review that matters these days is Pitchfork. Just getting a Pitchfork review has become something of a triumph for bands (though Stereogum is quickly unseating Pitchfork as the internet indie-music taste-maker of choice). Pitchfork reviews can be somewhat obtuse, unless you luck into a review by long-time Pitchfork critic Ian Cohen. which Cursive did.

Cohen drones on and on but concludes with, “On Vitriola, Cursive songs again supply the satisfaction of blaring your horn at a shitty driver or hanging up on a robocall—fighting against an encroaching sense of cosmic impotence with contained acts of victimless aggression.” He gave the record a 6.8 — somewhat middle-of-the-road in Pitchfork terms. Anything less than a 7 can get ignored (at least by me).

One way to check how well a record is doing is by looking at the number of plays tracks are getting in Spotify. Hardly scientific, I know, but I don’t have access to sales numbers, so…

As of 6 a.m. this morning, Vitriola track “It’s Gonna Hurt” had 55,107 plays in Spotify, while “Under the Rainbow” had 85,247 spins. Contrast that with “The Recluse” off Domestica, which had 3.7 million spins. This tells me Vitriola has gained some traction.

BTW, streamingroyaltycalculator.com says 85,247 spins equates to $340.99 in royalties. Wonder if that’s true?

David Nance Band, Peaced and Slightly Pulverized (2018, Trouble in Mind)

I only found three reviews for the new David Nance Group record Peaced and Slightly Pulverized, but one of them was from Pitchfork, and was particularly meandering. The pull quote: “The album was recorded by guitarist/keyboardist Jim Schroeder in his basement, but Nance’s newly anointed four-piece rips and wails through these seven tracks like they’re headlining the Fillmore.” Nice. Even nicer was the rating: 7.7.

Spotify spins for Peaced are, not surprisingly, much less than Vitriola. Opening track “Poison” had 5,774 spins this morning; “In her Kingdom” had 2,329.

I’ve been told spins aren’t what the labels look at as much as the number of people who have added an album to their Spotify Library. Though not equivalent to a sale, it indicates that listeners are playing the album more than once (and as such, is more important than, say, getting a track added to some tastemaker’s Spotify playlist, though that doesn’t hurt, either).

Adrianne Lenker, abysskiss (2018, Saddle Creek)

One more example: Saddle Creek Record’s latest release, the solo outing by Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker called abysskiss, got the highest Pitchfork rating of all three, with a mighty 8.0. It still wasn’t high enough to earn the record the coveted “Best New Music” status.

Abysskiss‘ Spotify numbers also are the highest of all three, with tracks “symbol” pulling in 260,000 plays and “cradle” with 266,000.

In the end it’s all just navel-gazing in an era where record sales are becoming secondary to streaming numbers and the only real income left is from touring.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Plack Blague at The Slowdown, Dec. 30, 2016. The Blague performs at Reverb tonight with ADULT.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

ADULT. is a Detroit synth-rock act that’s been kicking around since 1998 with a number of self-released recordings (but mostly distributed by Thrill Jockey). They’re playing at Reverb tonight at 8 p.m. Fun fact: ADULT. did a remix of The Faint’s “Agenda Suicide,” see/hear below. Another fun fact, Lincoln electro-leather-geek-punk legend Plack Blague opens, so get there early. $12.

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.