A screenshot from the new video for David Nance & Mowed Sound’s single, “Credit Line.”

by Tim McMahan,Lazy-i.com

Last Friday the new self-titled album by David Nance & Mowed Sound was released on Jack White’s Third Man Records, and I was thrilled to hear that it includes a new uptempo version of “Credit Line” similar to the version heard at Petfest a couple years ago. Nance and Company even released a video for the song, directed by local cinematic genius Nik Fackler. 

I’m still digesting the album and need to drop by Grapefruit Records to pick up a vinyl copy, but after initial spins, I dig what I’m hearing. Pitchfork, that kooky bible of everything indie, does as well, having reviewed the album Saturday and giving it a better-than-okay but less-than-stellar 6.7 rating. Critic Grayson Haver Currin seemed to dig the album but felt the band held back too much compared to some of Nance’s earlier releases. 

“It also feels circumscribed and safe, though, as if Nance and a band capable of truly cutting loose tried to make their own modern classic rock LP by forsaking the weirdness and wildness that made them special,” he writes, concluding the review with: “But as good as it often is, Mowed Sound reinforces what, in retrospect, has been Nance’s conundrum all along: He remains the clerk across the record store counter, gushing about all the things he loves without being able to tell you the one he likes best, the one he would forever commit to calling his own.”

Not sure what he means by that last line, but I do agree the album feels more restrained than some of Nance’s earlier albums, which can be both a good thing and a bit frustrating. For example, having seen Nance perform live countless times in the past, his most recent gig at The Waiting Room opening for Icky Blossoms also felt less “out there” and more held back than past white-knuckle performances. 

What will Nance & Mowed Sound bring to the stage when they play their album release show this Friday at Reverb? 

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.