by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Everyone has their bucket list of bands, and Silkworm was certainly on mine. I’ve been told the Chicago post-punk band did play at The Cog Factory one night in the ‘90s. But alas, I wasn’t there. Throughout that decade they released a handful of great albums, including Libertine, Firewater, Blueblood and Italian Platinum (which actually came out in 2002). 

Then as the story goes, drummer Michael Dahquist was killed July 14, 2005, in a car accident, and that was the end of Silkworm. Two of the band’s primary dudes, Tim Midyett and Andy Cohen, would go on to form Bottomless Pit, and members of Silkworm did reunite last July for a benefit concert for Steve Albini, who engineered a number of their albums.

And now the band’s fifth album, Developer, originally released in 2005 by Matador, is getting a remastered, expanded, vinyl+CD-only edition that includes five Japanese-only bonus tracks. Unlike, say, a DIrector’s Cut of a film, this expanded edition brings back all the tracks the band didn’t want to include in the original release because they thought they were too conventional.

“If you want to hear the catchiest songs we recorded at that time – aside from Never Met A Man I Didn’t Like – they’re all on the extra record,” says Midyett on the album’s one-sheet, adding that the original version was Albini’s favorite Silkworm album. 

Anyway, the new expanded version comes out Feb. 21 on Comedy Minus One Records. Order your copy here. Here’s one of the additional tracks:

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Conor Oberst’s new record label, Million Stars, continues to grow its roster with the addition of Alex Orange Drink, whose new album Victory Lap (#23), drops May 9 (preorder here). Alex Orange Drink is Alex Zarou Levine, singer/songwriter for The So So Glos, and the album was recorded while he was undergoing treatment for a rare form of cancer. The first single, the super-druggy “Queen Victoria,” features Oberst. Check it below. 

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The Lincoln Exposed Festival kicks off tonight. The good news for concert-goers: This snow will be out of the way before the first band plays. The bad news: Windchills are expected to be well below zero for the balance of the festival. This would have been fun fest… in March or April.

Ah, but if you live in Lincoln, who cares, right? All the clubs are located on the same block. I thought about going Thursday night, but if the temps and winds are as bad as they say, my attendance is questionable. 

I previewed the festival last week, here, and included an embedded player and links to a Spotify playlist. For regular Lazy-i readers (i.e., indie music fans) who are still scratching their heads over who they should check out, here’s my list of must see’s after spending a few hours with that playlist: Domestica, Floating Opera, Vempire, Sweats, Her Flyaway Manner, Josh Hoyer, Estrogen Projection, Thirst Things First, Head of Femur. Minor Movements, Goosehens, LaPerm, Verse and the Vices, Ghostlike., Slow, Pioneers!, Obscurants, M.A.N., Vera Devorah, Social Cinema and The Credentials. I know there are a ton I missed as that Spotify playlist was far from complete. Bundle up and check it out. All the festival info including schedules is right here.

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Another no-touring-indie-bands weekend. It might be a good time to point out to those not keeping score at home: Almost all touring-indie shows coming to Omaha in the coming months are taking place during the week (a ton are scheduled on Monday nights). When you live in a small market surrounded by important tour-stop cities like KC, Minneapolis, Chicago and Denver – who get the weekend gigs – you’re going to be left with a lot of Monday night shows (if you’re lucky). 

That leaves weekends for the locals. But not tonight as there are no indie shows to speak of, but since it is the first Friday of the month that means it’s Benson First Friday! 

Art galleries and businesses up and down Maple Street are hosting art shows this evening, including Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple St., which tonight is featuring the art from the father-and-son team of Brad and Howard Thiel. Titled “The Enemy Within,” the show is “an effort to come to terms with the result of the 2024 presidential election...” Is that even possible? Find out! Booze and treats will be served from 6 to 9 p.m. Come by and say hi.

Tomorrow night (Saturday), Shakedown Street (the bar formerly known at the Barley Street Tavern) is hosting  newish band Mono in Stereo (singer/guitarist/songwriter Charles McNeil (Brian Jones Was Murdered); bassist Marty Amsler (legendary ’90s Lincoln act The Millions), guitarist James MacDougall, and drummer Joe Eichoff (The End in Red). Joining them is Lincoln band Red Cities. 8 p.m. start time and an old-school $5 cover charge. 

Also Saturday night, the weekly free concert series continues at fabulous O’Leaver’s with four bands I’ve never heard of: Ronette Lee, Sundown Effect, Wayne Infamous and The Dangerous Moment. The Ronette Lee track below is reminiscent of early Cowboy Junkies (promising!), but it’s from 2005, so… NO start time given but it’s probably 9 p.m. FREE!!

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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Way back in January, I posted about the big 20th Anniversary edition of Lincoln Exposed, which begins next Wednesday (Feb. 12) in downtown Lincoln. We’re talking more than 100 bands representing multiple genres playing at five downtown Lincoln venues. 

In that post, I admitted that I was unfamiliar with the majority of the bands performing and suggested to organizer Dustin “Duff” Hunke that it would be grand if someone put together either an online event program with detailed band description or – better yet – a playlist of participating bands…

Lo and behold, whilst perusing Spotify this morning, I stumbled upon the Lincoln Exposed 2025 playlist, created by Jessica Yockey. This public playlist is available in Spotify right here and via the embedded player below. 

And it’s a good thing you’re learning about it now because the list is comprised of 336 songs totaling more than 21 hours of music. What better way to spend your weekend than previewing most of the bands that will be presented on Lincoln’s stages next week? In addition to helping provide a guidepost for festival goers, this playlist is “exposing” folks to some of the best music Lincoln has to offer. 

More info about Lincoln Exposed 2025 is available from the Lincoln Exposed Facebook event page, including a full schedule and ticket information. 

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Yesterday, Bright Eyes announced it finally rescheduled — and moved — their previously cancelled Omaha concert date. Bright Eyes is now scheduled to play at The Astro in La Vista April 27, with Cursive opening the show. This concert was originally scheduled for Steelhouse Omaha, who I guess must have passed on the offer for one reason or another. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m. 

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In other Steelhouse Omaha news, the venue’s promoter, Live Nation Concerts, is having a “Valentine’s Day” BOGO sale for shows whose ticket sales are… lacking. This includes the upcoming Molchat Doma/Sextile show Feb. 24. Use code LOVEDAY25 to unlock the deal. Offer ends Feb. 14 at 11:59pm CT. Full details and all shows being offered are right here. 

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Real Estate headlines. The New Jersey dream-pop band led by singer/songwriter Martin Courtney had a break-out album last year with Daniel (2024, Domino Records), which had a track that made it onto my annual comp CD (whoop whoop!). Queens-by-way-of-Nashville indie band Grumpy opens the show at 8 p.m. $35.

Also tonight, Grammy superstar drummer and composer Mark Guiliana is performing at Low End in the Bemis Center, 724 So. 12th St. in the Old Market. Guiliana has worked with such acts as St. Vincent, M83, Meshell Ndegeocello, and even played on David Bowie’s Blackstar album. This free event at starts at 8 p.m. More info here.

 

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A few things from my in-box…

Yesterday our hometown record label, Saddle Creek Records, announced the reissue of Rilo Kiley’s 2002 breakthrough LP, The Execution of All Things. This is the record whose title track declared the emergence of Omaha’s “booming music scene… and humility” Ah, those were the days. 

Somehow Saddle Creek has held onto the rights to this indie classic and are celebrating it with a die-cut gatefold clear vinyl (and CD), to be released April 25. Preorder yours here. This news goes hand-in-hand with Rilo Kiley’s just-announced limited U.S. Tour that comes nowhere near that once-booming music scene. 

Saddle Creek is two-for-two for reissue announcements. Hey Robb, how about some new music? 

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Speaking of hometown record labels, our very own Max Trax Records (the home of Little Brazil and Leafblower, among others), last week announced the debut single by Sioux Falls, South Dakota indie band Shurr Jr. 

Who is Shurr Jr.? The power trio consists of guitarist/vocalist Nick Maxwell, drummer Frankie Maxwell and bass player Kelly Maxwell. The siblings’s father, Frank Maxwell, was an Omaha music legend who played guitar in the band Fifth of May in the ‘80s and ‘90s. No doubt, the apples didn’t fall far from the tree. 

The single, “Drowning,” is the first track off the band’s upcoming EP, Red Shelter, slated for release by Max Trax March 28. It was produced by the band and Nate Van Fleet (See Through Dresses) at ARC studio and Van Fleet’s old studio, Divine Hammer.  

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In (dis)honor of King Trump’s inauguration, Lincoln duo Vempire released a maxi-single called “About Tuesday” with Permadeaf (Ryan Thomas of Machete Archive). The song was written the day after the election “so we can say we did something constructive rather than dig our nails into the wall,” said Vempire’s Mike Elfers. 

The maxi single (all tracks here) includes remixes by Lincoln’s Terra Genesis, Minneapolis’s Toilet Rats, Canada’s Candid Black and Peter Tansky from The Book of Very Very Bad Things Podcast in Scranton. 

“About Tuesday” is “a direct response to the current social and political climate, which rewards greed, ignorance, deceit, aggression, and scapegoating, while undermining empathy, cooperation, and understanding.” I guess that makes it a protest song – and we need more of those in these troubled times.. 

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Finally, here’s a stand-out track from the deluge from Minneapolis dream-core band She’s Green. The band just signed with NYC label Photo Finish Records; the single was produced by Slow Pulp’s Henry Stoehr. Reminiscent of Cocteau Twins or The Sundays, this one shifts gears from shimmering quiet to epic majesty. 

The five-piece, fronted by Zofia Smith, are headed on a rather massive U.S. Tour with the band Glixen that, despite their proximity, passes right over Omaha as it makes its Denver/Minneapolis/KC/Chicago jaunt in early March. 

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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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.