by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The double-LP Piqued – the last recordings from the late Jeff Runnings of For Against fame – is now available for pre-order from Independent Projects Music.  

From the IPR write-up:

“A posthumous release that’s also a celebration of the artist’s lifelong quest for a sound that, stripped to the bones, is all the more powerful and cathartic for its restraint, Piqued was recorded by Runnings at home on an old 8-track cassette machine. It plays just like a late ‘80s mixtape, lovingly compiled to showcase the beautiful emptiness of post-punk’s more eloquently quiet peaks. Stark and deadpan on the surface, this is electric guitar music in its most human and vulnerable form.”

Indeed it is. 

Piqued is available on vinyl (Black or Transparent Magenta), Special Edition CD and digital, and comes with a 4-track EP of rare recordings from the late ‘80s — two of them previously unreleased. You can pre-order directly from the label, here. The album release is July 11. 

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Last week, those hard-rocking boys in Leafblower dropped the title track (and video) for their upcoming album, Burn Cruise, due out June 13 on Max Trax Records. The band consists of Danny Maxwell (guitar/vocals), Clark Jahn (guitar), Tab Tworek (drums), and Craig Fort (Bass/Theremin/Vocals). It is, indeed, some heavy shit, and DMax never sounded better. Check it and preorder the luscious smoke-colored vinyl right here. 

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SAVAK, the Brooklyn-based project that includes post-Omaha member Mike Jaworaki (a.k.a. Jaws), today posted another single, “American Vernacular,” from their upcoming album SQUAWK!, which drops May 30 on Ernest Jennings. The band is touring along the Eastern Seaboard this summer. Let’s see if we can get them to Omaha. 

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Finally, Violenteer is playing an instrumental set tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s “with some special-guest vocals.” Who could that special guest be? Joining them tonight is Owen Cleasby’s Silversphere and a new project by drummer Nathan Wolf called Titus Groaners. Wolf, I’m told, is also playing in Violenteer these days. He’s a busy dude. Anyway, this show’s absolutely free and starts at 8 p.m. 

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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

I say “night 2” with Friko because the Chicago band just opened for Black Country, New Road at Slowdown last week. Tonight they’re headlining at Reverb Lounge. 

Like I said in last Wednesday’s preview, the duo of Niko Kapetan and Bailey Minzenberger grabbed national attention with their debut album, Where We’ve Been, Where We Go from Here, released last year on ATO Records. Pitchfork gave it a glowing 7.9 rating, saying the album channeled “the sound and spirit of 2000s indie rock.” For me, the guitar-fueled singer/songwriter fare leans closer to alt rock than indie, which probably explains their ever-growing popularity.  

That’s not the case for touring opening act Youbet.  On their most recent album, Way to Be (2024, Hardly Art), the NYC-based indie project fronted by Nick Llabot with Micah Prussack and Jojo Quinn sounds like a cross between modern singer/songwriter stuff and gritty, low-fi post-punk a la Sonic Youth (especially on new single “Deny.”). Should make for quite a double-bill. $20, 8 p.m. 

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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

How many of the 100 or so folks on hand for last Saturday’s Anna McClellan show at Slowdown had a clue who Kassie Krut was? McClellan said from stage that the show happened because both her and Team Krut were looking for an Omaha stage on the same date and agreed to combine the shows. So it was sort of a two-headliner show. 

However, Slowdown promoted it as an Anna McClellan show and simply listed Kassie Krut as an opener, along with local hip-hop artist Cash Too. I can’t say I blame them. I hadn’t heard of Kassie Krut until I started researching the band for last week’s preview. It was then I discovered the trio was the last vestiges of former Saddle Creek Records band Palm, and that their 2024 debut EP had been heavily lauded by the likes of All Music, Pitchfork and Northern Transmissions. And then I listened to the EP… wow.

The audience was in for a pleasant surprise. The trio came on stage and took positions behind an array of digital equipment, keyboards and electronic drum pads. On either side of the stage, Kasra Kurt and Matt Anderegg hammered at their equipment – one with drum sticks, the other with mallets – while Eve Alpert stood in the middle behind a keyboard holding a microphone. Throughout the set, all were bathed in blood-stain red light.

Their modern, futuristic electronic music tripped forward on a fat cushion of deep bass and an avalanche of rhythms; the perfect soundtrack for a gleaming sci-fi movie set in a dystopian, robotic future where the streets  also are bathed in blood-stained red neon.

Through the cacophony of drum-stick triggered digital sounds was a central rhythm more than enough to get the crowd to move their bodies, especially during set closer (and single) “Reckless.” Kassie Krut would be a welcome match on a bill with acts like YHWH Nailgun or Sextile. Someone at the show said they reminded him of Nine Inch Nails (I assume he meant their early stuff). I felt lucky to be there.

Anna McClellan couldn’t have been a bigger contrast. After Kassie Krut cleared their battery of electronic equipment, up came McClellan holding a table lamp that she plunked down right next to her keyboard in an effort to create a homey vibe on the sterile stage.

I’ve seen McClellan perform at least a half-dozen times over the past decade and last Saturday night’s show was the best she’s ever sounded.  To capture the essence of her last album, 2024’s Electric Bouquet, she surrounded herself with some of the area’s best players, including members of McCarthy Trenching (Dan, James Maakestad) and vocalist Pearl Lovejoy Boyd, whose harmonies took these songs to a different place. 

McClellan, who I believe now lives in LA, testified her love of Omaha before singing her song with the same name, with the line: “Lilting and besot / Why’s Omaha lost in thought?” – a question no doubt asked by an army of Omaha ex-patriots who have ventured to places like LA and Chicago looking for something better, and in most cases, finding it. But never forgetting where they came from and the people still there who helped make them who they are… 

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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

It’s been a while since I’ve said this: It’s a Slowdown weekend! The venue is hosting three shows from three different genres that span multiple eras. 

Chicago punk and The Effigies have been performing for 45 years, playing their first show in 1980, emerging shortly after the Ramones and Sex Pistols released their first records. According to Wiki, the band’s personnel has changed over the decades, and it looks like only the rhythm section of drummer Steve Economou and bassist Paul Zamost remain from the original line-up. See them carry on the tradition tonight.

This is a four-band bill in the Slowdown front room with local punkers Bad Actors, River City Rejects and Million Dollar Veins. 8 p.m., $25.

Slowdown brings the vibe down Saturday night with the return of post-Omaha singer/songwriter Anna McClellan. Her fourth studio album, Electric Bouquet, was released last October on Father/Daughter Records and received an impressive 7.3 rating from Pitchfork, who said “Her ramshackle arrangements and quivering voice channel a warmly human outpouring of emotion.” 

In many ways, McClellan reminds me of another Omaha-raised singer/songwriter with a, shall we say, unique vocal style: Simon Joyner, though McClellan (more often) does it behind a piano rather than with a guitar slung over her shoulder.  

Joining McClellan on Slowdown’s front room stage is Kassie Krut, fronted by Kasra Kurt, former guitarist/vocalist of Philly band (and Saddle Creek Records act) Palm. Kurt is now working with ex-Palm members Eve Alpert and Palm producer Matt Anderegg. The trio released their eponymously titled EP last year on Fire Talk Records.  Cash Too opens the evening at 8 p.m. $18. 

Finally, Slowdown opens the main room Sunday for an evening with The Wailers, the world famous reggae band that carried on after Bob Marley’s death in 1981. Their latest is 2024’s Evolution (Crescent Moon Records). 8 p.m., $35.

There hasn’t been a heckova lot to write about Slowdown for the past few weeks as they lightened up on their indie bookings. That will also be the case as they raise the tents to rake in big $$$ from the College World Series in June. But Slowdown recently added a few interesting shows later this summer, including Mal Blum Aug. 12, The Damned Sept. 17 and Nation of Language Sept. 29, that gives me hope they’ll continue to carry on their indie tradition.

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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Black Country, New Road – or BCNR for short – hails from Cambridge, England, and is pals with wonky prog-rock geniuses Black Midi, even having collaborated and toured with that combo once upon a time (as Black Midi, New Road). 

But BCNR’s sound couldn’t be more different than Midi’s oftentimes harsh, dissonant prog. They’ve been described as experimental post-punk, but the music on their latest, Forever Howlong (2025, Ninja Tune), leans closer to frilly baroque, thanks to pretty piano, jangly guitars/banjos/harpsichords and May Kershaw’s wonderful, cooing vocals. 

With its complicated compositional tangents, I can buy the new record’s “experimental” tag (though “slightly unfocused” might be a more accurate label). Still, the fact we even have a chance to see this amazingly talented group of multi-instrumentalists on an Omaha stage is a miracle similar to when Black Midi played Slowdown back in 2022. 

Tonight’s opening band, Friko, is out to prove contrasting styles can make for memorable shows. The Chicago duo of Niko Kapetan and Bailey Minzenberger grabbed national attention with their debut album, Where We’ve Been, Where We Go from Here, released last year on ATO Records. Pitchfork gave it a glowing 7.9 rating, saying the album channeled “the sound and spirit of 2000s indie rock.” For me, the guitar-fueled singer/songwriter fare leans closer to alt rock than indie, which probably explains their ever-growing popularity. 

This main room show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.  Interestingly, if you miss the show, Friko will be circling back to Omaha next Tuesday (May 20) for a headlining gig at Reverb Lounge. 

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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

First off, Being Dead’s bio page in Spotify is littered with inaccuracies and ‘fake news” in such a way that it makes me question the band’s current state. 

The Austin duo boasts having competed in the 2015 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro “where they swept the competition” presumably in long-distance running events “returning with 5 medals and the respect of the nation.”

A quick glance at the Encyclopedia of Olympic Records and Achievements shows no mention of band member Falcon Bitch or Shmoofy. 

They go on to claim ownership of restaurant “La Piss Tarte,’ which, they say, “received 2 Michelin stars.” I see no record of this restaurant in my own copy of The Michelin Guide, which is always kept at arm’s length when writing concert previews. Let’s face it, I’m beginning to think Being Dead may not even really be dead. I guess we’ll see tonight at Reverb Lounge.

The band is on the road supporting their most recent LP, EELS (2024, Bayonet Records). The 16-song collection of kinda groovy, kinda surfy indie rock goodness was produced by the legendary John Congleton of The Paper Chase who is perhaps better known for working with such acts as Modest Mouse, St. Vincent, DCFC and our very own Cursive.

Opening for Being Dead is Lawrence band Blanky, who’s been ‘round these parts before. They’ve got a brand new album, Idols on the Wall, coming out next month. Get a preview of the new record tonight. $18, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, Pageturners Lounge is hosting a week’s worth of live events. Tonight they have New Orthodox, a.k.a. New York-state-based multi-instrumentalist Nicholas Merz (Sunset Rubdown). According to his bio: “The band’s ethos leans heavily into minimalist repetition, sonic experimentation and lyrical insights that give way to live performances and recordings that utilize space and silence to imitate the human experience.” Sounds trippy. 

His most recent album, Bull Market on Corn (2025, Joyful Noise), has the honor of being among the last albums engineered and mixed by Steve Albini. Opening tonight at Pageturners is Jim Schroeder’s Mesa Buoy. The show is free and starts at 8 p.m. 

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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

For years, the indie music festival identified with Stinson Park in Aksarben Village was the Maha Festival. That fest is moving downtown this year, but another festival hopes to one day take its place in the village.

After three years of being held in organizer Madeline Reddel’s back yard, the Garden Party festival, which features female-fronted bands from around the country, made a giant leap to Sonny’s in Aksarben Village with Stinson Park in its sites. If Saturday’s crowd is any indication, it just might happen. 

Whenever you hold an outdoor festival, you’re rolling the dice, and this Saturday the ol’ bones came up sevens. While a bit hot in the late afternoon, the weather couldn’t have been much better. By 5:30, a respectable crowd already filled Sonny’s picnic tables and had begun to encroach on the green. Former Omahan now-Chicagoan Ione and her guitarist played to the young-ish crowd, many joined by their dogs.

When I returned after dinner, the crowd had ballooned, filling the entire green space. A long line stretched from Sonny’s bar through the partially covered patio, but moved quickly and before long I had one of their rather strong margarita’s in my hand while Keo & Them played on stage. We left again and walked over to Kinkader Brewing Co. for a beer. When we returned for headliner Abby Holliday, the crowd had peaked, but we were still able to find a place to sit down and listen just off stage right.

Sponsor support no doubt powered the festival; one being Sonny’s, which had to have enjoyed a good night’s business; another (I’m told) being Noddle Companies, the village’s primary developer. Smart investment. 

Saying the festival was “chill” would be an understatement. Convenient access, free admission and the ability to come and go as you please made it easy for patrons to enjoy the rest of Aksarben Village (including a jam-packed Inner Rail food court) and still return for more music. 

Hard to guess total attendence, but at its peak maybe a few hundred folks were enjoying the low-key indie music from Sonny’s as well as nearby green spaces and patios. While Garden Party’s talent was impressive, it will take bigger names to justify moving the festival to Stinson Park. Last year’s Grrrrl Camp Festival, held at Falconwood Park, boasted indie darlings Hurray for the Riff Raff, Mannequin Pussy and Indigo De Souza among its talent — arguably the best collection of touring indie artists at any Omaha event last year. And yet, I’m told (at this time) there’s no plans for another Grrrl Camp festival this year. 

Bigger doesn’t always translate to being better, however in Garden Party’s case, there’s plenty of room for the festival to grow…

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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

The Garden Party festival, which has been held in back yards since it began in 2022, is making a big move this year to the gorgeous outdoor compound known as Sonny’s in Aksarben Village 

Organizer and musician Madeline Reddel hopes the free, all-women-fronted music festival can eventually grow large enough to host in Stinson Park. And with this line-up (and the gorgeous weather forecast for Saturday) she may be on her way.

The talent consists of artists from throughout the country and Omaha. The headliner is Nashville indie singer/songwriter Abby Holliday, who self-released her third LP, Crack a Smile Come on Stay A While, last October. She’s been compared to Phoebe Bridgers, but isn’t nearly as downcast/depressing. A better comp might be Blondshell or Lucy Dacus.

Other out-of-towners on the festival bill include Autumnal (Denver), Keo & Them (Wichita), Honey Marmalade (Brooklyn), and former Omahan/now Chicago resident Ione. Locals include LyriQ LaShay, Peachy Beaches and Twin Pages. Grace Lundy kicks things off at 2:30 p.m.; Abby Holliday is slated to go on at 9:30 p.m. 

Like I said, it’s free. Attendees can come and go as they please, bring leashed dogs, blankets, chairs, purchase food to be delivered from the Inner Rail or nearby businesses, and buy drinks at Sonny’s bar. More info and the complete schedule is at gardenpartyomaha.com.

Garden Party is the only music event on my radar this weekend. There are no other touring indie shows, and I’m not aware of any local indie shows happening, either. 

With that in mind, there are a couple new releases out today.

Lodgings new LP, The Thousand Yard Stare, carries on the angular, jangly, crash-bash tradition we’ve come to expect from the Omaha band whose members include vocalist/guitarist Bryce Hotz; Steve Micek, guitar; Mike Laughlin, bass; and Eric Ernst on drums. The album includes guest spots by cellist/violinist Megan Siebe and guitarist Sean Pratt. 

The 8-song album was recorded at Archetype Recordings by Hotz, primarily on 2-inch analog tape at 15 ips (according to the liner notes). That’s all the more reason to buy the limited edition gatefold vinyl, which you can order from their Bandcamp page. 

This just dropped today, and I’m listening to it for the first time as I write this. The only comp that comes to mind is maybe Matador band Chavez. If you were into Ride the Fader, you’ll dig this.

Also, Lincoln electronic duo Vempire dropped a new single, “Always Forever by Cults” which isn’t a cover of a Cults song. I know, it confused me as well. Check out the new track below, and five other versions at their bandcamp page. 

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 © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been years since Future Islands played Omaha; in fact, according to my notes, the last show was back in 2017 at The Waiting Room. 

Based on recent videos, the band hasn’t changed much both sonically and performance-wise. Frontman Sam Herring is still the center of attention, emoting as if acting out a Shakespearean soliloquy backed by three players frozen in place. 

Veterans of past Future Islands shows can pick their favorite Herring-ism from a list that includes: 

— Picking the imaginary berry and eating it (along with his hand)
— Pounding his chest, hard, like a gorilla
— Reaching into his chest and pulling out his heart, and eating it (along with his hand)
— Swinging his fist round-house style, hard and wide, just like Elvis
— And “Hello God, it’s me, Samuel” (performed earnestly, On the Waterfront Bando-style, while looking up toward an imaginary moon).

Then there’s the dance moves: the twist, the low dips, the high kicks. Herring sells it and sells it well. He is fun to watch, only because it looks like he’s really enjoying himself up there on stage. 

I was a wee bit surprised the band was booked to play the largish Admiral until I noticed they have around 2.8 million monthly listeners in Spotify. Their biggest hit, “Seasons (Waiting on You,” from Singles (2014, 4AD), has over 138 million plays. 

Their latest album, People Who Aren’t There Anymore (2024, 4AD), carries on their long-running, somewhat simplistic sound — peppy kick drum, synth cushion, bass bounce, and Herring. The difference is Herring appears to have lost the odd growl that characterized early recordings, and that’s probably for the best. Their current single, “The Tower,” is enjoying heavy rotation on Sirius XMU. 

Opening act Open Mike Eagle, a.k.a. Michael W. Eagle,  is described in Wiki as an LA-based hip-hop artist and comedian with Chicago roots who credits They Might Be Giants as an influence. His 2017 concept album, Robert Taylor Homes, made it on both Rolling Stone‘s and Pitchfork’s top-50 list that year. The Eagle takes the stage at 8 p.m. Tickets are $42.

One other show of note tonight: Self-proclaimed Colorado plant-rock act No Fauna headlines at The Sydney in Benson. They sound like proggy PUP on their latest EP, Winter (2025, Iggy Longerelle), Locals The Ivory Claws and Box Eats Miah also are on the bill. $10, 8 p.m.

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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 quick addendum to yesterday’s post regarding upcoming indie tours coming to Omaha… or the lack of them.

Yesterday, a small caravan of Omaha music fans drove to Kansas City to see music legend Nick Cave perform at their convention center. Cynics, pragmatists and realists will argue Cave could not draw a big enough crowd to justify a performance in Omaha sandwiched between the Twin Cities and Kansas City, and they may or may not be right. 

But that logic doesn’t necessarily apply to every indie act that bypasses Omaha. And there are a lot of them. Which acts? 

Well, just over the next week alone, Omaha is missing out on Lucy Dacus, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Lambrini Girls, The Magnetic Fields, Gang of Four and Youth Lagoon. 

In the coming weeks, we miss out on Sasami, Peter Bjorn and John, Momma, Bartees Strange, Tennis, Matt Berninger and The Wedding Present. All are playing in Minneapolis.

The list continues in June, as Preoccupations, Robyn Hitchcock, Annie DiRusso, Blondshell, Sleigh Bells, Sunflower Bean, Perfume Genius, DEVO and Dean Wareham all will skip Omaha. And these are only the indie bands I see listed on the first-avenue.com website. I’m sure there are others.

While bands bypassing Omaha is nothing new, it does seem like we’re seeing a shift from indie tours being booked in Omaha to more metal, country and pop tours, or just fewer smaller tours. Tour bookers, promoters and venues make decisions based purely on financial questions: Which shows will sell tickets in this market? Which won’t? And so on. 

The result for indie music fans means putting a lot more miles on your SUVs as you travel to Minneapolis and Kansas City to see your favorite bands…

I guess the lesson here is you can’t always get what you want. At least we get Future Islands tomorrow night, right?

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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.