A Light Among Many play tonight at Project Project with FXTHR^.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been more than seven years since FXTHR^ performed live. The project features Dapose (the guitarist of The Faint) and Dustin Bushon, and in the past also has included other musicians including Clark Baechle of The Faint.

FXTHR^ returns tonight for a performance opening for Denver drone band A Light Among Many (Nauseating Whiff Records) at art space Project Project, 1818 Vinton St. However, I’m unclear as to who will be performing as FXTHR^. Whoever it is, expect it to be an experience like no other.

(UPDATE: I’m now told by Project Project that tonight’s FXTHR^ performance will only feature Dustin Bushon.)

Here’s my review of an April 2005 FXTHR^ show at Sokol Underground. Note that I didn’t use the stylize spelling of FXTHR^ back then, probably because I didn’t know how to create the right character on my keyboard:

I got down at the Underground just as Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship had taken the stage. Their style and sound was pleasingly thunderous and epic, intense and… well, loud, dark and ominous as a storm cloud rolling in — a fitting opener for what lied ahead. Shortly after they finished their set, a projector screen was placed on stage. The guys in Father followed next, setting up in the dark. The projector glowed blue, then pink as Clark Baechle started off the 20-minute song with booming, repeated, tribal drum riffs that went on — alone — for at least a few minutes before D. Bushon joined in on drums alongside him, throwing his arms high with every capped measure. Bushon threw his sticks off stage, picked up a guitar and began a throbbing drone that would eventually include Dapose and someone on bass.

Meanwhile, on screen, a faint pattern emerged, a pulsing central circle surrounded by four pulsing dots — one in each corner. Slowly, small lines appeared, growing into a web of veins (or so it seemed). As the sound intensified, the veins kept growing, becoming more detailed with each pulse of the central circle, eventually resembling the circulatory system of an alien life form. Behind it, in the dark, the guttural sounds from Father throbbed louder, trancelike and grim. Eventually Clark up and left the stage, leaving Bushon, Dapose and the bass to rumble on. I don’t know if it was the all-encompassing low end, the nightmarish image on screen, or the combination of the two, but it was right about here that I began to get slightly nauseous. What the fuck was this supposed to be, some sort of bludgeoning nightmare séance?

One-by-one members of the band left the stage, eventually leaving Dapose to drone to a conclusion while Seth Johnson’s gruesome image slowly faded from the screen. When Dapose finally left and the house sound and lights came up, the crowd of 100 clapped, confused and maybe a bit startled. Father’s performance was disturbing and unsettling and most likely right on target.

Tonight’s show starts at 8 p.m. Pay what you want at the door, 100% goes to the artists.

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil at The Waiting Room, Dec. 28, 2019. The band plays at The Sydney tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s looking like an all-Sydney weekend (when have I ever said that before?).

Tonight at The Sydney in Benson a sweet Benson First Friday show is headlined by Little Brazil (Max Trax Records) with Those Far Out Arrows (High Dive Records) and Eric in Outerspace. $5, 10 p.m.

And since you’ll be in Benson before the show to get some grub (or whatever), drop by The Little Gallery at 5901 Maple (just across the street from The Sydney in the east bay of the Masonic Lodge Building) for “Hatch” by artist Pecha. The opening reception runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Come by, say hi.

Also tonight, Lookout Lounge has an old-school punk show with The Shidiots, Cordial Spew, Old Empires and Wyldra. $5, 8:30 p.m

Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s back to The Sydney for Leafblower (Max Trax Records) celebrating the release of a new 7-inch with Lincoln pals Her Flyaway Manner and Omaha grinders Living Conditions. $5, 10 p.m.

Also Saturday night, The Dive Kings return to fabulous O’Leaver’s with Side Piece and Faded. 9 p.m., $5.

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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

SAVAK has a new LP coming out in April.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Local legend now Brooklyn-ite Mike Jaworski — a.k.a. Jaws — emailed to say that his band SAVAK has a new LP titled Rotting Teeth in the Horse’s Mouth coming out April 10 on Earnest Jennings Record Co. This is their fourth full length in five years.

From the Brooklyn Vegan article: “The band recorded the album at their Gowanus studio and the record features appearances by Scott McCloud (Girls Against Boys, Paramount Styles), Michael Hampton (The Faith, One Last Wish, Fake Names), and Anthony Roman (Radio 4).”

Check out the first single, “Listening,” via Bandcamp and pre-order your copy.

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Speaking of pre-orders, today I pre-ordered the limited edition Disq debut, Collector, on Saddle Creek — the first vinyl album I’ve purchased this year. It comes out March 6, but they just dropped their second video for the song “Loneliness.” Check it below and pre-order that one here.

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And finally, former Omahan now yurt-dweller in Cumberland Gap, TN, Ben McLaughlin, has a new five-song extended single released last Friday for the tune “On Line,” available from his website.

“I left Omaha in 2015 for school at Loyola University New Orleans and had been returning most summers, but finally took off for TN this past August,” McLaughlin said. “The tracks were all played, engineered, mixed and mastered by yours truly.”

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Criteria performing at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles Jan. 26, 2020.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

My chief concern about the two-week Criteria tour, which just wrapped up, was how frontman Stephen Pedersen’s voice would hold up to violently intense singing night after night. Judging by this video of the Jan. 26 show at The Teragram Ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, his voice held up just fine.

My other question was how well fans of headliners Cursive and Cloud Nothings would receive the band. Would anyone even remember Criteria, who haven’t toured in more than a decade?

“(There were) plenty of folks there to see Criteria in every city,” Pedersen said. “People showed up early! It was bizarrely good! By end of our set it was apparent that we made new fans each night. Super cool. I made myself available to folks after we played (by running merch) and it was shocking and humbling how many folks wanted to talk to/thank me/us for putting out a new record and going on tour.”

The new record in question is Years, released last month on Cursive’s 15 Passenger Records. Pedersen said the album debuted at No. 42 on the Billboard Alternative chart. “I have no idea what that means,” he added.

So with this tour’s success, will Pedersen step away from his lucrative day job and hit the road for a year-long tour?

“No dice,” he said. “I worked from the road fairly successfully. Long drives on the West Coast meant lots of time to get work done.”

But that doesn’t mean the band is going into hibernation, either.

“We’re processing next moves,” Pedersen said. “Maybe play a couple festivals. Maybe do some East Coast dates. We’ll see.”

It’s too late for Coachella, but there’s always South by Southwest and Lollapalooza!

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Growing up I owned two comedy albums. The first was Cheech & Chong’s Big Bambu. My brothers bought it for me as a birthday present because I had a copy of C&C’s “Earache My Eye” single and thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever heard. I was seven years old. The album, which I still have, came with a neat piece of printed rice paper. It would be about 10 years later until I understood what the paper was for.

The second comedy album was Steve Martin’s Let’s Get Small, which came out in 1977. Steve Martin was one of the funniest guys in the world back then (he’s still pretty funny) and it seemed like everyone had this record. I knew every word to every bit, which wasn’t so funny when I did them.

I haven’t owned a comedy album since then because these days, once I’ve heard the joke, I’ve heard the joke. What was funny the first time becomes simply amusing and then merely interesting and then not interesting. (But there are exceptions. I recently replayed the two Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee episodes with Bob Einstein and I laughed my ass off again).

Adam Cayton-Holland, Performs His Signature Bits (2020, Saddle Creek)

But I’m the exception to the rule. I mean, just look at how comedy is taking off. So much so that now even our hometown record label, Saddle Creek, is getting into the game. Today the label announced it’s releasing its first comedy album, Adam Cayton-Holland Performs His Signature Bits, which actually came out 2018 and is still available on Spotify. But now you can own it on yellow-orange vinyl for $18.99, because jokes just sound funnier on vinyl. Actual street date is Feb. 21. Order here. I’m making a wild guess that by rereleasing this one on vinyl, Saddle Creek will be first in line to release ACH’s next album? We shall see…

While I’m on the topic of Saddle Creek, Frances Quinlan of Hop Along saw her debut solo album, Likewise, drop last Friday on the label, and for me it meets and in some ways exceeds the Hop Along stuff. The reviews have been off the charts. It’s currently pulling an 82 on Metacritic, and Rolling Stone went ga-ga over it. Now we’re all just waiting to hear what Pitchfork thinks…

I also forgot to mention that Saddle Creek announced No. 11 in its Document Series — “Big Moon” b/w “Rufus” by New York band The Big Net. Check out the A-Side below. The single drops Feb. 28.

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Perfect Form at O’Leaver’s, Jan. 31, 2020.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I had every intention of seeing InDreama Friday night at Reverb and then racing cross-town to O’Leaver’s, but the evening got the better of me and I didn’t get rolling until around 11. Figuring I’d probably already missed part of InDreama’s set, I instead headed out to the club, where the second band was still doing their pre-set soundcheck.

Colfax Speed Queen is a Denver five-piece who’ve opened for the likes of The Sonics, Thee Oh Sees, King Khan & BBQ and Prettiest Eyes, among others. Though they have that minor-key, organ-driven thing going, their style is too straight-forward and riffy to fall into the psychobilly category. Instead, they have refined garage-rock power more in common with Oh Sees or Ty Segall.

Colfax Speed Queen at O’Leaver’s, Jan. 31, 2020.

Frontman Matthew Loui on guitar and vocals, with keen serial killer looks, was a true showman, and this band was tight as a tic. Lead guitarist Jacob Bond killed on the solos and the rhythm section was right on. It was definitely another one of those classic O’Leaver’s sets that I wasn’t expecting and was a pleasant surprise. Check out their latest, 2019’s Dirty Mirror, on Bandcamp. You won’t be disappointed.

Too bad so few people were there to see them. The crowd of 20 or so consisted mostly of music people, no doubt on hand to see Perfect Form, a new incarnation of Pharmacy Spirits with the added dimension of golden-age vet Oli Blaha on bass sounding as golden as ever.

Without a doubt, Perfect Form is influenced by bands like Joy Division, Gang of Four, very early Cure, Wire, all the usual post-punk suspects. They do it very well, driven by a super-talented rhythm section of Blaha and drummer Courtney Nore, who remains one of my all-time faves behind a drum kit.

The band is rounded out by frontman singer/guitarist Jim Reilly and guitarist/vocalist Eric Maly. Reilly handles most all the vocals but Maly jumps in now and again with some added angst. The guitar work is as you’d expect from this style of band — jangly and precise, lean and simple. It’s the bass that’s driving the songs, with Blaha playing most of the set pushed into a corner with has back to the audience.

Late in the set they played a song called “Terminal Beach” that had all of the above and something I can’t quite put my finger on that reminded me of Omaha/Lincoln in the mid-’90s, something about the way Reilly and Maly were singing the chorus “If I could just fall asleep / I’d make you promise that you’d never let me wake,” that sounded like every local punk band at the time. Reckless fun.

This was their first show ever. Why they chose Omaha to play it when they’re from Lincoln is something of a mystery. I’m happy they did.

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Not much happening this week show-wise until Friday night’s Little Brazil gig at The Sydney. I’ll try filling the gap by posting about stuff I’ve been listening to lately. Check back.

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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 © 2020 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.