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.