The big news: Tickets to the Oct. 22 Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain concert at The Astro Theater in La Vista go on sale today at 10 a.m. Tickets will run $59 to $99. There’s much buzz for this show, which could actually get me out to The Astro for the first time. Frankie Rose (Dum Dum Girls, Crystal Stills) opens. Get yer tickets here at 10. Good luck.
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Tonight at The Sydney local ambient/slowcore/indie band The Ivory Claws headlines a show with The Bedrock and Little Rooms. I’m not familiar with any of these acts, but the few Ivory Claws tracks I’ve listened to are intriguing. $10, 9 p.m.
Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s back to The Sydney for Lincoln indie/alt rock band Univese Contest. The band has made The Sydney their second home. Benson Soul Society opens the show at 9 p.m. Just $5!
Also Saturday night, there’s a free indie-punk show at fabulous O’Leavers with Cupholder, Dip Tet (members of Ideal Cleaners, Halfwit, FACE), and Valley Street (self-proclaimed ‘Millard-core’ band). 9 p.m. and, like I said, it’s free!
Sunday night, Bloomington’s Murder by Death headlines at The Waiting Room. They call their sound “gothic country,” which is a pretty apt description, and have released albums on Bloodshot and Vagrant. Their single, “Coming Home,” was used in Inglorious Bastards promos and Sons of Anarchy. Wildermiss opens at 8 p.m. $35.
Also Sunday night, Kansas City alt rock band MellowPhobia headlines at Reverb Lounge with Wood Hoops and LYXE. $13, 8 p.m.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.
More and more, indie artists are using Instragram almost solely for their announcements, moreso than any other social media platform. At least that’s been my experience. Facebook is for “old people,” Tik Tok is for the younsters, Twitter/X is for Trumpers, but Instagram still holds value for hip. young music fans, maybe because it’s harder for advertisers to usurp.
Take Bright Eyes, for instance. Earlier this week the band announced it has a new album coming out this fall via this video “reel” on Instagram featuring Conor Oberst’s nephew, Sam. And a day or so prior to that, Bright Eyes posted a photo from what appears to be the inside of ARC Studio in Omaha, with the caption “baking cake.” Ho-ho!
Online publications like Exclaim! glommed onto the posts and amplified the news with headlines like “Bright Eyes Confirm 11th Album Arriving This Fall.” More info coming soon… no doubt, via Instagram.
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Monsters of Folk, on the other hand, used a traditional Press Release to announce the band’s just released reissue of their 2009 debut via ATO Records. The reissue includes five additional tracks recorded in 2012 with Centro-matic’s Will Johnson for use in an unproduced science fiction film scripted by Conor Oberst (which we’d all love to see. Maybe Conor can share the script with Icky Blossoms’ guitarist and motion picture director Nik Fackler?).
Here’s another of those newly released sci-fi tracks…
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While Saddle Creek Records’ original crown jewel bands Bright Eyes and Cursive announced new albums on competing record labels, Omaha’s hometown record company last week announced it’s releasing the next album by Spirit of the Beehive, titled You’ll Have to Lose Something, on Aug. 23.
The band dropped the first video from the album (below), and announced its U.S. tour, which unfortunately doesn’t include Omaha. Closest passes are Chicago’s The Outset Sept. 28 or Denver’s Meow Wolf Sept. 30.
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Closer to home, singer/songwriter Jeremy Mercy’s latest band — Jeremy Mercy and the Rapture Orphans — released a new single called “Dead Headlights (Another Winter in Omaha)” from their forthcoming EP Heavyweight: Volume II. The tracks were recorded at Make Believe Studio and were produced and mixed by audio engineer extraordinaire Ian Aeillo (Flight School). Check out the new track below.
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And what have I been listening to lately? I’ve been spending a lot of time with Cursive’s new album, Devourer, which comes out Sept. 13 on Run for Cover Records. I’ve already written a review of the album, but the band’s PR folks want me to hold it until the record drops, which is fine (whatever happened to building anticipation?).
I will say this about the album, however – it’s a return to classic Cursive and is, in my humble opinion, the best thing they’ve done since Happy Hallow. You’ll have to wait to read the rest of the review…
Hailing from San Francisco, French Cassettes give a nod to The Beach Boys and Magnetic Fields as two “apparent influences” to the music on their third LP, Benzine (2024, Tender Loving Empire). Their dedication to well-constructed indie pop, however, is also reminiscent of acts like Whitney, Guster, Ben Folds and (a less earnest version of) Okkervil River.
Singer/songwriter Scott “Benz” Huerta is the trio’s center-pivot, having formed the band (originally a four-piece) with guitarist/bassist/keyboard player Mackenzie Bunch back in 2006. The current iteration is rounded out by new drummer Rob Mills. While Huerta’s voice has that classic indie frontman croon, it’s Bunch’s harmonies that give their songs extra lift.
Huerta agreed to take on the Ten Questions gauntlet in support of the band’s June 25 show at Slowdown with Ojai. But before we get to that, a quick story that involved my former life at Union Pacific Railroad:
It was January 2015 and in an effort to attract young recruits to consider railroad careers, Union Pacific attempted what can only be called “a social media experiment.” The railroad’s Corporate Communications department created a video series, developed and filmed by videographer/musician/all-around-good-guy Django Greenblatt-Seay, wherein small national indie bands performed songs safely within the confines of a live rail yard.
French Cassettes was among the bands involved in that experiment. They were shot performing their song, “Radley,” at Union Pacific’s Oakland Intermodal Terminal. The final product is linked at the end of 10Q, right after an 11th question about Huerta’s memory of the project.
Please to enjoy…
What is your favorite album?
Scott Huerta, French Cassettes: i by The Magnetic Fields is definitely #1. And I know this is cheating the question but I feel like I have to honorably mention: Discovery – E.L.O. Comfort Eagle – CAKE Room on Fire – The Strokes
2. What is your least favorite song?
I don’t like pickin’ fights so I don’t go around saying this, but “Piano Man.” I like Billy Joel I just don’t really want to hear about a guy who plays piano for 5-and-a-half minutes. Maybe I just don’t get it.
3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?
This is a TalkBoy.
Singing harmonies with talented singers. I’ve wanted to have that since my grandma showed me Beach Boys when I was super young. As fun as it was layering a bunch of my voice with my TalkBoy, I prefer being in an actual group.
4. What do you hate about being in a band?
I got a bum knee and my amp weighs 40 pounds.
5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?
Legal: green tea boba
Illegal: pickin’ fruit from trees hanging over people’s fences
6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?
San Francisco of course because it’s home base. Anywhere in Central Valley CA. We played Sacramento the other night and talk about a good-time-havin’ rowdy bunch. New York and Denver are always really kind to us and like to sing the songs.
7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?
A long time ago we played a blood drive — us in a parking lot with 100 folding chairs set up and not a single person showed up. The staff felt bad and made all the employees watch. Then as a peace offering, they gave us a tour of the blood bank and I almost passed out halfway through. I learned that day that I’m not a blood person. Nice folks, though.
8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?
We’re not doing that bad, I’d say. I live pretty modestly so that helps when it comes time for bills. But especially recently we’ve been blown away by the support from our fans. That being said, there were definitely days where I was eating cans of tuna for breakfast lunch and dinner. But I don’t mind – I love tuna.
9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?
I attempted to be a child actor, but no one showed up to my first class, not even the teacher, so I took that as a sign. Also I was 30. There’ve been a few others. Carpenter, mechanic, mailman in Ireland.
I wouldn’t want to work in a kitchen only because I move pretty slowly and everyone would hate me; I got too thin skin for that.
10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?
Sorry, I’m sure you get this all the time but honestly just what Toro y Moi sings about in his “Omaha” song. I’ve learned Omaha is one of people’s favorite cities to say out loud, very beautiful word. Basically, I’ve got much to learn and I plan to soak in as much as possible while we’re there this tour. I bet it’s my kinda place.
Extra Question: What do you remember about filming the Union Pacific rail yard video?
I remember it was very early. And they told us legally we had to wear all the gear. But mostly I remember the comments on YouTube, so good. “What does this band have to do with trains?,” “music’s not as bad as I expected.” They get even better. It’s worth checking out when you have time. Union Pacific let us keep the wardrobe and I used the glasses as goggles for cutting onions, which did not work at all – do not recommend.
French Cassettes play with Ojai on Tuesday, June 25, at Slowdown. Tickets are $15; showtime is 8 p.m. For more information, go to theslowdown.com.
So how was the inaugural One Omaha Festival this past weekend? The three-day event, which ran from June 13-15 at locations downtown, midtown and Benson, boasted bands from multiple genres playing on about a dozen stages.
One of the festival’s organizers, January Kristine, said One Omaha may return in 2025.
“We are thinking about doing it again next year!” she said via FB messenger. “I had a tremendous team of volunteers and we established great camaraderie and received some good feedback from the bands and venues. Some of the national acts were surprised how cool Benson is.”
Kristine said the fact that the festival coincided with the College World Series’ opening weekend may have impacted attendance. “It was tough to get people out to midtown and Benson,” she said. “However on the opening night (June 13) at our parking lot party and at our venue in Capitol District, we had a good amount of locals and tourists. I did hear from some people that they wished they knew more about the festival ahead of time.”
Kristine said Benson and midtown had “the usual locals” in attendance. “I think Shakedown Tavern, The Sydney and Waiting Room had the most people,” she said. “We had an outdoor open mic on (June) 14th and 15th with an artist market in Benson and we had a decent crowd.”
Kristine said organizers learned a lot from the experience. “With this being year one, there are many things to learn and take away from it,” she said. “Many performers are wanting to do it again next year. As far as ticket numbers, we are still going through all the details but overall, I think it was a success and I feel really positive about engaging the community across the city for three days. We really did have an inclusive line-up of a large variety of music….music brings people together!”
Omaha’s summer festival season continues July 19-20 with Grrrl Camp at Falconwood Park in Bellevue, which arguably has the best lineup of up-and-coming touring indie acts of any local festival. Check out the line-up here.
In fact, since it’s Tuesday, here are the touring indie show dates on my radar. Please plan accordingly:
June 20 – Aquarian Blood @ Grapefruit Records
June 25 – French Cassettes @ The Slowdown
July 7 – X @ The Waiting Room
July 8 – The Baseball Project @ The Waiting Room
July 15 – Etran de L’Air @ The Waiting Room
July 18 — Blanky at Pageturners Lounge
July 19-20 – Grrrl Camp @ Falconwood
July 24 – Caspian @ The Waiting Room
July 31 – SNÕÕPER @ Reverb
Aug. 3 – Orville Peck @ The Admiral
Aug. 3 – Shiner @ Reverb
Aug. 7 – Cults @ The Waiting Room
Aug. 9-10 – Outlandia Music Festival @ Falconwood
Aug. 15 – PACKS @ The Slowdown
Aug. 17 — Petfest @ Petshop Gallery
Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
Sept. 24 – Why? @ The Slowdown
Sept. 25 – Descendents @ The Admiral
Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
Nice crowd of around 50 (guestimate) at The Sydney for Whippets Friday night. I saw a lot of old school / O’Leaver’s folks in the crowd, no doubt on hand to support their old pay Bobby Hussy’s new-ish band.
Whippets are a post-punk power trio, with Hussy up front on guitar and vocals. He was backed by a solid rhythm section that included Tyler Spatz on bass (I’m not sure who was on drums).
The band already had kicked things off when I got there at around 10:30 and played a set of blistering, guitar-fueled garage punk maybe reminiscent of Jay Reatard but more so The Hussy or another, more refined Hussy/Spatz project called Wristwatch.
The band calls their sound “post-punk Grungegaze” and I guess I can hear some of that grunge in the fuzzed-up guitar tones. My favorite moments were when Hussy would switch from a twangy guitar-punk tone to over-blown grunge/Nirana-esque tone midway through a song, like lighting rocketfuel.
Speaking of lighting fuel, during the final number, Hussy jumped from the Sydney’s tiny stage, dropped his guitar on the floor and proceeded to douse it with lighter fluid and set it ablaze. He quickly put out the fire, plugged back in, then struggled with his pedals for a couple beats before his slightly melted guitar roared back into action. Rock ’n’ roll!
A tribute to Jimi? Hussy sets his guitar on fire during Whippets’ set closer at The Sydney June 14, 2024.
I’ve been trying to get my arms around the One Omaha Festival, which kicked off last night at a number of downtown Omaha locations, including the Capitol District Plaza. The festival is a conglomeration of mostly local artists from different genres, with about 10 national acts thrown into the mix.
Among them is the band Night Moves, who is listed as the headliner for the festival’s programming tonight at The Waiting Room. The Minneapolis band, whose last EP was released on Domino Records, played Reverb Lounge in the fall of 2022 (and before that, at The Waiting Room waaay back in 2013). They even did a Ten Questions interview in 2022, which you can read here. Their sound reminded me of bands like Ambrosia, Gary Wright, 10cc and Jackson Browne – FM ’70s soft rock made for slow dancing. Kevin McClure Band, Jocelyn and Public Figure open for Night Moves tonight (Friday) at The Waiting Room starting at 6:30.
Access to the show is part of a $30 Friday-only festival package that also gets you into Reverb, The B. Bar, Shakedown Street and the Benson Market Stage, which I assume is the outdoor stage on Military Ave. as well as Bullmoose and Secret Park – two bars I’m unfamiliar with.
The One Omaha Festival concludes Saturday night in Benson with shows at The Waiting Room, Reverb, Shakedown Street, The Sydney and the Benson Market Stage. Omaha Latin-punk mavericks Las Cruxes headlines the Sydney bill. Tickets for Saturday’s festival events are $44. Tickets are available online here.
The festival is being produced by Hook n Sync, who has a website but the best place to to find festival schedules is on the Hook n Sync Facebook page.
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You may have noticed The Sydney isn’t part of tonight’s One Omaha festivities. That’s because Madison, Wisconsin post-punk band Whippets are headlining there tonight (Friday). Whippets frontman Bobby Hussy, formerly of The Hussy, was a staple of the Omaha/O’Leaver’s post-punk scene back in the day. Hussy now runs No Coast Records, who released Whippets debut EP in 2022. Also on tonight’s bill are The Poly Mall Cops, Cupholder and Cat Piss (or so it says on The Sydney’s website). $12, 9 p.m. (but probably starts at 10).
And finally…
The band Wedding, who plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night, is a newish local project by singer/songwriter/artist Anne Schulte. The band released a 5-song EP in 2022 called Dream Car, which you can find on Spotify along with 2023 single “Bright as a Star,” which was recorded with Nate Van Fleet, Ben Brodin and Michael Frederickson – dreamy. Tom Bartolomei and Trey Moody open this free show at 8 p.m.
And that’s all I got. With the College World Series going strong, I’ll be doing my level best to stay out of downtown this weekend… or for the next two weeks! That sound you hear as you pass The Slowdown on the way to the stadium is the warm buzz of the venue’s money-counting machines as they bring in their annual harvest…
If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!
No shows for me over the weekend. In planning, I did my usual calendar review. Dance Me Pregnant’s Friday night gig at The Sydney was not listed on the Sydney’s online calendar or on The Sydney’s FB calendar. I found out too late (from a member of the band) and missed that show! Ah, next time, dudes.
But that’s the science behind these calendars – I’m at the mercy of the promoters and venues to list their shows on their websites, though I can still sometimes find out directly. At last count, there are at least three or four websites and blogs that have show calendars. My go-to beyond Facebook is MarQ Manner’s Omaha Buzz, which has an intense calendar focus.
The difference between Lazy-i and these other calendars is Lazy-i is curated exclusively toward indie music, both in its previews and reviews.
Anyway, it’s time for that look ahead at the touring indie rock calendar, which is extremely thin for the month of June (partially due to the College Word Series?). It’s not that indie bands aren’t touring, either (check out the First Avenue calendar, for instance – if I lived in Minneapolis, I’d very likely be broke due to all the shows they book).
Two Omaha shows stand out this week. Tonight, The Mars Volta headlines at The Admiral. For you young folk, The Mars Volta was formed in the early 2000s by Omar and Cedric of the El Paso post-hardcore band At the Drive-In – a band that had a big impact in the late ’90s peaking in 2000 with the release of the epic Relationship of Command (They played a crazy show at Sokol Underground back in the day).
The Mars Volta is more of a prog/experimental band that never captured the same frantic/chaotic energy of AtD-I nor really escaped its shadow, though they seem to have eclipsed it as far as record sales, thanks to a shift toward more commercial alt rock.
Opening tonight’s show at The Admiral is sometimes Omar collaborator Teri Gender Bender. $55, 8 p.m.
The other show of note this week is Night Moves at The Waiting Room Friday night, but that performance is part of the One Omaha Festival. I’d like to see this band, but I’m not interested in the rest of the festival line-up, so what to do?
Here’s are the other touring indie show dates on my radar. Things get better in July. Please plan accordingly:
June 10 – The Mars Volta at The Admiral
June 14 – Night Moves at The Waiting Room (One Omaha Fest)
First things first — it’s the first Friday of the month, which means tonight is Benson First Friday (#BFF). That’s the night when galleries and businesses up and down Maple Street support local art through art openings and showings. Among them is our very own Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St., which is celebrating the opening of William Holland’s “Linear” ink and watercolor works. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Drop by and say hi.
The only other show of note tonight is the return of Zepparella to The Waiting Room. The four-woman band plays Led Zeppelin songs as only they can. Opening the show is indie-punk power trio Bad Bad Men (Wolf, Siebken, Hug). $22, 8 p.m.
Saturday night has a couple non-indie shows around town. LA fuzz-pop band Alyeska plays at The Waiting Room with Virgin Mary Pistol Grip. $20, 7:30 p.m. Ska pioneers Burning Spear are playing at The Admiral with Kabaka Pyramid; $65, 7 p.m.
Sunday night rootsy singing-songwriting superstar Lucinda Williams headlines at The Admiral. It’s being marketed as “An Evening with…” and all tickets are reserved seats. Prices range from $54 to $99. Show starts at 8 p.m.
Also Sunday night, Grand Rapids indie folk band The Crane Wives headlines at The Slowdown. They’re supporting the pre-release of their next album, Beyond Beyond Beyond, out Sept. 6. Hannah Laine opens this main room show at 8 p.m. $25.
And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.
It’s been awhile since we heard from Cursive. Their last album was 2019’s Get Fixed, released on their very own 15 Passenger Records label. Then, out of the blue yesterday, stories began popping up on the usual indie rags (Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Under the Radar, Treble, etc.) announcing Cursive will be releasing their new album, Devourer, Sept. 13 on long-running indie label Run for Cover Records.
Boston’s Run for Cover has been around since 2004 when it was founded by then 17-year-old Jeff Casazza, whose early releases included LPs by Tigers Jaw and The Wonder Years, among others. These days, Run for Cover’s roster includes such indie heavy-hitters as Horse Jumper of Love, Runnner, Young Guv, Sun June and Rival Schools, with past artists including Alex G, Pinegrove, Nothing and Pity Sex.
It’s a curious move to go from your own, sort-of established record label to another mid-sized label, especially when Cursive’s original mid-sized label, Saddle Creek Records, likely would have welcomed them back with open arms, but I’m sure there’s lots more to that story…
After a prolific few years of new signings (Feeble Little Horse, Palm, Indigo De Souza), Saddle Creek has slowed its output, having only released a handful of singles this year along a new LP by Young Jesus and reissues of The Faint’s Doom Abuse and a couple old Land of Talk EPs. Who’s handling A&R at Saddle Creek after Amber Carew left the label in May 2022?
Ah, but I digress from the topic at hand…
According to the Stereogum article, most of which was likely taken from a press release (which I didn’t receive – COME ON, CURSIVE!), the 13 tracks on Devourer were culled from 69 (?) songs written by Cursive frontman Tim Kasher for the album. Kasher said the album’s title has to do with his “devouring” of art, music, film and literature, which he then digests, followed by outputting his own unique version, which isn’t the most flattering metaphor for what we’ll be hearing on the new album.
Actually, we got the first scent of Kasher’s creative excretions yesterday when the band/label released the video for the first single, “Up and Away,” directed by Brea Grant, a veteran director who’s appeared on episodes of Friday Night Lights and Dexter, and directed 2022’s 12 Hour Shift, according to IMDB. Check out the video below.
According to Northern Transmissions, the band now weighs in at a hefty 7 members. “We seem to be collecting band members over the years,” Kasher said in the article. Beyond the core trio of Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn, and guitarist/vocalist Ted Stevens, the band includes keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Newbery; cellist Megan Siebe; and recording/touring drummer Pat Oakes and founding drummer Clint Schnase.
But maybe the biggest news of all is that Cursive will launch its 2024 U.S. tour right here in Omaha with two dates at The Waiting Room Oct. 18 (with Little Brazil) and 19 (with Criteria). Also on the bill both nights will be Cursive tourmates Gladie, a Philly 5-piece whose last release was 2023’s Purple Year EP (Plum Records).
Cleveland’s Cloud Nothings, who headlines tonight at Reverb Lounge, is the product of singer/songwriter Dylan Baldi, who started the band as a solo project in 2009 while at Case Western Reserve University. What began as a lark became a career, as he was quickly signed to DC-based Carpark Records, who released the band’s self-titled debut in 2011.
Since then, Cloud Nothings has recorded seven albums, the last, Final Summer, was released this past April by Pure Noise Records. Pop Matters called it a “master class in Indie Rock,” and Pitchfork gave it a respectable 7.5 rating. It has all the trappings of classic indie, from the jangle-riff guitars to the chugging rhythm section, very reminiscent of acts like Superchunk, who no doubt, was an influence.
Dylan took part in a Ten Questions interview back in 2018 when they first visited Omaha. Asked if he was able to make a living off his music, he said, “Yeah we’ve been strictly musicians for about six years now. It’s the biggest luxury. Gives me lots of time to make sure I’m making the best music I can. It took us three years of touring and working together for basically zero dollars. But luckily it resulted in an album that people liked in 2012, so since then we’ve been doing okay.“ Check out the rest of the answers right here.
Playing tonight with Cloud Nothings are Michigan rockers Idle Ray and Tender Grease. The show starts at 8:30; tickets are $26.
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