by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just in time for fall, Hell for Breakfast

, the blog run by Orenda and Todd Fink, posted a recording of Orenda’s rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” (embedded below). Orenda’s breathy coo on this grim lullaby could entice any pick-up driving sumbitch to go on a killing rampage…in a good way.

You’ll get a chance to hear Orenda sing it live tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s.

Todd writes, from the HfB blog:

“On Wednesday Orenda will be playing (Springsteen’s) song “Nebraska” along with a bunch of new and old songs.  She’s letting me sit in on the drums. Our neighbor Greg Elsasser (from Capgun Coup, and No, i’m the Pilot) will be bowing the spooky-saw and playing bass. Christine Fink (O’s sister who recently moved here) and Pearl Boyd (Outlaw con Bandana) will be singing backups. And Orenda’s usual partner in crime, Ben Brodin, will be playing his tape delayed moody guitars.”

Also on the bill, the incomparable Simon Joyner (check out his one-on-one Hear Nebraska interview conducted at midtown meat house The French Bulldog) and Chicago’s Circuit des Yeux and duo Spires that in the Sunset Rise (that’s STITSR, which is very similar to TSITR). This one is $7 and starts at 9 p.m. sharp. Get there early.

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Speaking of members of Azure Ray, yesterday Maria Taylor debuted her first song off upcoming Saddle Creek release Something About Knowing called “Up All Night,” and it’s a baby song (of course). The new record comes out Oct. 29.

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Also happening tonight at The Brothers Lounge it’s the return of Lincoln’s Ron Wax (a.k.a. Ron Albertson) along with KC punkers Lazy and our own Video Ranger. $5, 9 p.m. Check out some Ron Wax below…

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Yo La Tengo at The Waiting Room, Sept. 21, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

When I got to The Waiting Room Saturday night at around 8:30 I thought the show was going to be a dud. Maybe 20 people were wandering around the club. A guy outside with connections told me pre-sales had been disappointing, especially considering that Yo La Tengo rarely plays such small venues anymore. Last time they came through (in 2009) they nearly sold out The Slowdown. In fact, the reason I got there early was to make sure I could snag two tickets and a table.

But within a half hour the place was nicely filled, and a line of people waiting to get in snaked out the door. I didn’t get numbers, but it felt like at least 250 were there to see what arguably is one of the most influential indie bands of the past 20 years. Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew came on at about 9:20 and announced they were doing two sets, starting with a “quiet set” that included soothing renditions of soothing songs from albums that reached all the way back to 1993’s Painful LP as well as stuff off their latest, 2013’s Fade

(Matador).

Don’t get me wrong, this was beautiful, lush, moving stuff, but after four or five songs, it all began to bleed together, and sure enough people started to get bored and turned their attention away from the stage and toward whoever they came with. Muted chatter slowly became a rolling roar that rose from the back of the room. This is the point in the review where I’d normally chastise the crowd, but I can’t blame them for getting restless.

After about 45 minutes of soothing stuff, the trio left the stage for about 20 minutes, than returned for the “loud set,” which was indeed more interesting, more upbeat, and loud enough to discourage casual chatter. You had to yell if you were going to cut through the dense noise generated by Ira’s guitar shredding. Again, the band played a fine selection from a variety of albums, including favorite “Tom Courtenay” off Electr-O-Pura. Nice stuff, but again, one after another after another — including extended Ira guitar solos — started to become dull indeed, and we ended up leaving five songs into the “loud” set.

I love Yo La Tengo. This is the third time I’ve seen them live. The best time was when they played Sokol Underground back in 2006. That set was broad and varied and Ira was reined in. Then there was that Slowdown show in ’09. That one felt loud and chaotic and while Ira was in full-on jam mode, the sheer overblown power of the set made it memorable. Last Saturday’s show was memorable too, but dividing the set into “quiet” and “loud” made for too much of one thing or another.

Eros and Eschaton at Slowdown Jr., Sept. 22, 2013.

I don’t know if it was because I still had YLT on my mind, but Eros and Eschaton kind of reminded me of that trio when they played at Slowdown Jr. last night. This was an early show — starting at 7 p.m. — which made it possible for me to actually attend. Why more shows — especially on Sunday or “school nights” — don’t start at 7 or 8 remains a mystery to me. It’s nice to be able to get home before 11 p.m.

In this case, I was home before 10 because E&E played a severely short set. The band consists of former It’s True frontman Adam Hawkins and his wife Katey Sleeveless (Kate Perdoni), along with a bassist and (I’m told) the drummer from It’s True. The It’s True influence was distinctive during the first half of the set, which sounded very much like material that would have fit in well on It’s True’s last album. The difference is the harmonies between Hawkins and Perdoni, along with a bit more heft in the arrangements.

Things got heavier in the second half of the set, as the band pulled away into the more brutal territory heard on their new Bar/None album. The musical violence reached a fever pitch when a song closed with what seemed like a full five minutes of battering guitar and feedback noise — a noise collage — that had the guy next to me holding his ears.

At their best, the band epitomizes the ’90s shoegaze of bands like Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, while the quieter numbers recall the Velvets or, yes, Yo La Tengo. The prime moment was the closing song, a hard, fuzzy droner that I wanted to go on and on, but instead closed too quickly, marking the end of a set that couldn’t have been more than 30 minutes (including five minutes of guitar-noise filler).

* * *

The week starts off strong tonight as Lincoln’s UUVVWWZ takes the stage at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Power Haunts (ex Eagle Seagull, ex Black Hundreds) and Dirty Talker. $5, 9:30 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Titus Andronicus is playing tonight at the Sweatshop Gallery, the space next door (south) of The Barley Street Tavern. Sweatshop’s performance space looks like it has a capacity of around 50 (including the band) which could make for tight quarters, especially if Titus draws the 75-100 or so who came to see them play at Sokol Underground last November.

I asked someone who went to the Parquet Courts show at Sweatshop this past June if the venue opened the overhead door in the back of the performance space. He said they didn’t, and as a result, the show was a tightly packed, sweaty mess, but he felt lucky to be there. I’m told Titus purposely booked small, non-traditional venues for this tour, which supports Local Business (2012, Matador), the same album they were supporting at that Sokol show. It’s worth the effort. Opening is NYC band “Lost Boy?” $10, 9 p.m.

Just up the street tonight Brother Ali returns to The Waiting Room. Ali is co-headlining with Immortal Technique. Also on the bill is Hasan Salaam & I Self Devine. $20, 9 p.m.

Also tonight over at fabulous O’Leaver’s Millions of Boys headlines with Kansas City’s The ACB’s and The SuperBytes. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Check out The ACB’s, below:

Lastly tonight, Hot Water Music frontman Chuck Ragan is doing a solo set at Slowdown Jr. with Matt Whipkey. $20, 9 p.m.

Saturday’s marquee event is the weekend’s marquee event: An Evening with Yo La Tengo at The Waiting Room. No opener, just Ira, Georgia and James (and co.) for an evening of music by one of the most influential indie bands in the last 20 years. $18, 9 p.m. See you there.

Also Saturday night, new band Hotlines has its stage debut at O’Leaver’s. Hotlines consists of heavy hitters from a number of local bands: Dereck Higgins, Amanda DeBoer Bartlett, Javid Dabistani and Luke Polipnick. Flamethrower opens. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally Sunday is a homecoming of sorts down at Slowdown Jr. Eros and Eschaton is the new project by Adam Hawkins of It’s True that also features his wife, Katey Sleeveless. I’ve heard the new album, Home Address for Civil War (2012 Bar/None), and can tell you if you loved It’s True, you’ll love this new incarnation that takes the same rich songwriting and covers it in dollops of shoe-gaze feedback. Opening is hot newcomers Twinsmith and the Omaha’s heartbreak king John Klemmensen and the The Party. This is an early show — 7 p.m. $8. Go!

Did I miss anything? Put it in the comments section. Have a fantastic 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Joan of Arc at O’Leaver’s, Sept. 18, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As much as I like their music, I don’t keep up with Joan of Arc. I lost track of them after 2008’s Boo Human, which was (probably) the last time they came through Omaha. For last night’s prime set at O’Leaver’s the band consisted of frontman/guitarist Tim Kinsella with drummer Theo Katsaounis and bassist Bobby Burg.

Rounding out the 4-piece was vocalist Melina Ausikaitis who added a Winter’s Bone-style June Carter twang to Kinsella’s usual muted vocals. Ausikaitis — hands thrust in pockets, slouched in rolled up blue jeans, red Converse high-tops, well-worn T-shirt and suspenders — was strangely magnetic, especially singing two a cappella numbers while the band fiddled with their various tuning devices.

They played a few songs off their just-released EP Testimonium Songs, including the insanely intricate, “The Bird’s Nest Wrapped Around the Security Camera” — a stuttering stop-and-go of the most complex math equations. Just as vexing was “I’d Expect Babies Should Fly, If Not At Least Float Away” — both songs models of precision rhythms and perfect instrumental choreography.

It wasn’t all experiments in synchronicity. The band threw in a few straight-forward rock songs as well as a fine version of “Shown and Told” off what Kinsella called “The Album of the Year.”

“It’s all about timing, at least that’s what they say,” Kinsella said, referencing either his songs or his set list, which, he said, was a purposeful ebb-and-flow contrast between the simple and the complex.

The set ended with a duet version of “Life Force” (Cut each other’s strings) off Life Like, that Kinsella said was the exclamation point to an evening of music that was way too short for the 40 or so on hand.

Joan of Arc at O’Leaver’s, Sept. 18, 2013.

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Busy busy busy slate of shows happening tonight.

The marquee I suppose is Best Coast at The Waiting Room. The band has a new album apparently produced by Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Magnolia, Fiona Apple). I haven’t heard it, but based on this Hear Nebraska interview, the Brion connection helped push them away from their surf-rock style, which has me curious. Opening is LA band Bleached (Dead Oceans). $20 9 p.m.

Also tonight back at fabulous O’Leaver’s, Worried Mothers headlines a show that showcases their new album. Also on the bill are Fort Collins’ Sour Boy, Bitter Girl and Cooper Lakota Moon (Dim Light). $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the hot-and-bothered show of the evening is at Pageturners where Johnathan Rice (Jenny and Johnny) and Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds) are doing a free show. I predict a crammed room, so if you’re going, get there early and start drinking (heavily). Starts at 10.

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In this week’s column, how saving Bo Pelini not only will save the Husker program but will improve my golf game. You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Joan of Arc circa 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been one of those weeks, which explains the odd timing of these posts. Needless to say I missed the last two nights of shows at The Waiting Room, but have no intention of missing tonight’s gig at O’Leaver’s.

Chicago indie legends Joan of Arc is headlining everyone’s favorite drunk tank on Saddle Creek Road. JoC’s centerpoint is  Tim Kinsella, who formed the band after his previous band, Cap’n Jazz, bit the dust in ’95. Joan of Arc is no stranger to Omaha. I last recall them playing The Waiting Room in aught 8.

Their music swings between indie rock and wonky experimental noise, with “songs” that can be…challenging. Still, these guys are definitely worth your $7 cover. Opening is Omaha’s own Thunder Power. The fun starts at 9:30.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s been too long since I’ve been to The Waiting Room. Fact is, lately the club just hasn’t booked many shows that interested me. Well, TWR is welcoming me back this week, starting with a sneaky little show going on tonight.

Portland band Typhoon plays dense, intricate, layered chamber rock that recalls bands like The National, Sufjan and good ol’ Bright Eyes. They tour with as many as 14 players including strings and horns, and have performed on Letterman

.

I listened to their last two albums via Spotify and was impressed, though their music can be overly dramatic / dour / “important.” Lots of earnest songs about love and death interspersed with hand claps and group choruses.

They’ve been grouped in with Decemberists, which isn’t bad company, though Typhoon’s music isn’t nearly as hook-filled. Never heard of their label (Roll Call) either, but with the proliferation of online indie, anonymous labels are becoming commonplace. Tonight’s show is certainly worth your $10 if you’re into big-sound-production indie rock. Opening is Portland band Radiation City (or Rad City). Starts at 9.

Some Typhoon:

…and Radiation City:

Here’s how the rest of the week is shaping up for national touring shows. Could be lots of long nights and painful mornings:

Blitzen Trapper headlines w/ Oquoa at The Waiting room tomorrow night (Tuesday).

Joan of Arc Wednesday at O’Leaver’s (yep, Joan of Arc).

Best Coast and Bleached are at The Waiting Room Thursday.

Friggin’ Titus Andronicus is at tiny Sweatshop Gallery Friday night (How they gonna pull that one off?).

Brother Ali is at The Waiting Room Friday night.

Yo La Tengo at The Waiting Room Saturday.

What a week…

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Glancing at the calendar, looks like it’s going to be “another O’Leaver’s weekend,” as well as another weekend without (a noteworthy) touring indie bands (A trend? Fear not, Yo La Tengo is next Saturday!).

Tonight at O’Leaver’s it’s the Brigadiers (starring Shane Lamson, Vic Padios, Clint Schnase and Mark Weber) along with The Ground Tyrants (The Weber Brothers, Bob Carrig and Wayne Brekke). Get back to your roots, people. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) again at fabulous O’Leaver’s, it’s the twang-rock stylings of Travelling Mercies with The Bottle Tops  (bluegrass family style) and Denell & I. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday night, reggae/funk act Wild Belle plays at The Waiting Room with Satchel Grande and Saint Rich. $10, 9 p.m.

Finally Sunday, again at O’Leaver’s, it’s the pub’s “Sunday Social” series this time featuring So-So Sailors and Austin band One Hundred Flowers (check out a track below). Food starts at 4 (not sure what they’re serving yet; while supplies last);  music starts at 5. $5. What else you gonna do on Sunday afternoon (besides watch football)?

Did I forget anything? Put it in the comments section.

Have a good 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

One of the area’s longest running local music festivals, Lincoln Calling, announced the preliminary line-up for its 10th Anniversary festival slated for Oct. 15-19 in 10 venues throughout the Lincoln metroplex.

Organizer Jeremy Buckley says this year’s program features more than 100 bands and DJs from all over the country and world (but mostly from Nebraska). Confirmed so far:

The 4onthefloor (Minneapolis)
The Big Deep (Omaha)
Bonehart Flannigan (Lincoln)
The Bottletops (Lincoln)
BOY (Hamburg)
Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies (Omaha)
Carolyn Wonderland (Austin)
Christopher the Conquered (Des Moines)
Cowboy Indian Bear (Lawrence)
Cowboy Winter (Madison)
DEERPEOPLE (Stillwater)
Desert Noises (Provo)
Dirty Talker (Lincoln)
Eli Mardock (Lincoln)
A Ferocious Jungle Cat (Lincoln)
Freakabout! (Lincoln)
Genders (Portland)
Gordon (Omaha)
Guilty is the Bear (Lincoln)
Halfwit (Lincoln)
The Highest Order (Toronto)
Homegrown Film Festival (Lincoln)
Jack Hotel (Lincoln)
Jeazlepeats (Lincoln)
Jeremy Messersmith (Minneapolis)
John Klemmensen and the Party (Omaha)
The Josh Hill Band (Akron)
Josh Hoyer and the Shadowboxers (Lincoln)
The Kickback (Chicago)
Masses (Lincoln)
The Mezcal Brothers (Lincoln)
Oquoa (Omaha)
Orion Walsh and the Rambling Hearts (Lincoln)
Pleasure Adapter (Omaha)
Powers (Lincoln)
Red Cities (Lincoln)
The Renfields (Lincoln)
Rock Paper Dynamite (Omaha)
Rusty Maples (Las Vegas)
Saturn Moth (Omaha)
Snake Island! (Omaha)
Tie These Hands (Lincoln)
Too Slim and the Taildraggers (Nashville)
Tsumi (Lincoln)
Twinsmith (Omaha)
Universe Contest (Lincoln)
Whipkey Three (Omaha)
White Mystery (Chicago)
Wiping Out Thousands (Minneapolis)

This is the best selection of up-and-coming (i.e. “emerging”) talent in the area, highlighted by Gordon, Eli Mardock, Pleasure Adapter (now featuring Matt Maginn on bass), Oquoa, Twinsmith, Halfwit and (of course) Universe Contest. Lacking are any Saddle Creek bands (so far), but the omission (for whatever reason) doesn’t seem glaring.

So is this last year for Lincoln Calling? Buckley, who puts the whole thing together, is co-owner of Vega, a new music venue/bar/restaurant being built in the Pinnacle Bank Arena complex. No doubt he’ll be too busy managing and booking the new 500-capacity performance space to organize this annual monster. I asked Buckley if this was, indeed, the last year for Lincoln Calling. His response: “No comment?”

For the latest on LC10, go to lincolncalling.com or follow the event at https://www.facebook.com/LincolnCalling.

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In this week’s column, Omaha’s great inferiority complex and who gives a shit what anyone thinks of us? You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader or online 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

And the crowd looked on, at Jake’s Block Party, Sept. 6, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Jake’s Block Party in Benson has become an annual (or semi-annual?) must-attend event for anyone interested in local indie music. As in years past, the stage was set up right outside of Jake’s on Military Ave., leaving room for food vendors (Lot 2/Baxter’s, a food truck, fine brews by Jake’s).

This time  the party was teamed up with Benson First Friday, which may explain the rather light crowd for opening band Twinsmith. Though the audience was thin, interest was intense for a marquee act that has all the earmarks of a local breakthrough. Again, I was reminded of Vampire Weekend. Make your own comparisons. One of the most pop-friendly indie bands to emerge from the Omaha scene in recent memory.

Oquoa at Jake’s Block Party, Sept. 6, 2013.

Moreso than when I saw them a couple weeks ago at their O’Leaver’s debut (or maybe it was the outdoor stage) Oquoa sounded like Conduits with a male lead singer, which of course makes sense considering core members of Oquoa were in Conduits. Thick, dense waves of sound rolled through the old brick buildings, but instead of Jenna Morrison’s tonal coo cutting through the feedback we got Max Almquist’s brassy rock voice. I still don’t know what he’s singing about, but that will come when we get a lyric sheet (or a clean recording). If you were a Conduits fan, you need to check these guys out.

See Through Dresses at Jake’s Block Party, Sept. 6, 2013.

See Through Dresses had a sound that bounced between Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. Needless to say Sara Burtuldo’s interplay with with frontman Matt Carroll (Nate Van Fleet and Robert Little round out the four-piece) gives the band a Thurston Moore / Kim Gordon flair. When they throw in a New Order cover, well, things get out of hand (in a good way). As a whole, less punk and more post-punk than Sara’s other project.

Speaking of Sonic Youth, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship followed STD and played their usual cranked up post-punk set, louder than ever. By then, the block was packed. Alas, I didn’t stick around for headliner Universe Contest.

* * *

Early in the evening, word leaked that Conor Oberst was going to mark the anniversary of Pageturners with a performance on the bar’s ad hoc stage. What to do, what to do? In the end, I sat tight at Jake’s figuring that I wouldn’t get there in time to get in and/or if I did the place would be crushed. Unlike Conor’s Krug Park “secret show” a year ago when video and reports leaked everywhere afterward, the only thing I’ve seen to prove that this actually happened was a dark, blurry photo posted on the Pageturners Facebook page.

* * *

Two shows going on tonight. Top o’ bill is Jim James (of My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk) at Slowdown. Is Conor still in town? If he is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he joined his old pal on stage for a couple songs. Opening is the amazing Basia Bulat, whose new album, Tall, Tall Shadows, comes out on Secret City Records Oct. 1. As of noon, tickets were still available for $27. Show starts at 9.

Also tonight, spacey rockers Youth Lagoon a.k.a. Boise Idaho’s Trevor Powers, plays at The Waiting Room. His new album Wondrous Bughouse was released on Fat Possum this past March and is, indeed, a head trip in a Floydian sort of way. Opening is Austin low-fi trio Pure X. $14, 9 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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Well, we made it to Friday, and to Jake’s Block Party in Benson. It might be the best line-up they’ve ever had: Twinsmith (new single coming soon), See Through Dresses (Sara from Millions of Boys), Oquoa (a mash-up of Conduits and Great American Desert), Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship (Omaha’s answer to Sonic Youth) and headliner, Lincoln band Universe Contest (This generation’s Eagle*Seagull? (though they sound nothing like E*S)). The fun starts at 7 and only costs $5. Booze and food will be available (for a price).

It’s all part of Benson First Friday, so check out some art before you check out the music. More details here.

Jake’s party is the highlight of the weekend. Also tonight, the Waiting Room is hosting another Johnny Cash tribute show, and O’Leaver’s has Rock Paper Dynamite.

The noise in Benson will continue Saturday as the Sweatshop Gallery hosts the 4th Annual Nebraska Hardcore Showcase. The 17-band bill runs from 2 p.m. to midnight. The headliner: Powerslop. I don’t follow the current hardcore scene so I can’t tell you a thing about the line-up, but if you have an inkling of interest in that style of music it’s hard to go wrong for $5. Check out the Facebook event listing for the full band list.