by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Very much like every other year was last Wednesday’s holiday concert at The Waiting Room, the eighth such event (according to Criteria frontman Stephen Pedersen, who celebrated this winning streak from stage). Lots of old, familiar faces were on hand to wish glad tidings as well as they could through the 100+ dB din (even between bands, it was loud).

Uh Oh kicked it off with a solid set and what appeared to be the evening’s largest crowd (a crowd that slowly, slightly waned throughout the night). The more I hear Joe Champion live the more I’m reminded of Tim Quirk of Too Much Joy, thought Uh Oh’s music is played straightforward lyrically vs. TMJ’s snarky humor, and that’s OK. While the entire band is solid, lead guitarist Mari Crisler is a standout on solos that leave the histrionics for the fretboard (which is a nice way of saying the band doth not emote much on stage, but few indie bands do).

Little Brazil followed with their best performance in recent history driven by frontman Landon Hedges. Always solid instrumentally, for me LB shows depend on how well Landon handles those high notes. Get him on a bad night and your best best is to lean back and enjoy guitarist Shawn Cox’s amazing fretwork. Get Landon on a good night (or in this case, a great night) and you’re flying above the crowd alongside him on that vocal tight rope.

LB has been kicking it for decades but their latest album, Just Leave, is a career highlight thanks to risk taking on song structures and the guitar interplay between Cox, Hedges and the rest of the band, held down firmly by a rhythm section of LB co-originator Danny Maxwell on bass and larger-than-life drummer Austin Elsberry. That said, Hedges’ unique, high vocals make LB a standout in a city full of standouts.

There were times Wednesday night when I cringed waiting to hear if Landon was going to make that note. He almost always did, though a couple times he seemed to forget the words at the beginning of songs. No matter. He always caught up in the end.

Finally there was Criteria. What to say that I haven’t already said the last seven times I’ve seen them play this holiday show or all the other times in between? The band continues to wield the ridiculous guitar-fueled power that made them an indie-music staple in the emo-powered aughts when Omaha was a global music brand. I am here to report that frontman Pedersen can still shred the high notes as well on songs that are nothing less than endurance tests for any vocalist over the age of 30 (which he most definitely is).

The band is sheer power at every position, tight as a tick and tour ready as they’ve ever been, though they’re unlikely to play again until next November. No doubt some of the reasons for that involve the three little boys who ran around stage prior to the set — Pedersen’s personal roadies (the youngest of which wore sound-dampening headphones and ran wild in the crowd during the set). In just a few years maybe they’ll be opening for dad’s band, at a show held sometime around Thanksgiving at The Waiting Room…

. 0 0 0 .

The holidays cavalcade of local shows rolls on this weekend.

Tonight at Reverb Lounge, Saddle Creek Records band Twinsmith headlines with up and comer Bug Heaven who I’m told is a must see (though I somehow keep missing them). This one starts at 9 p.m. and is $12.

Also tonight, singer/songwriters Stathi and Mitch Gettman are playing sets at The B. Bar, 4330 Leavenworth (right next to Barrett’s Barleycorn). Mitch goes on at 8, Stathi at 9 and then headliner, Sweetstreak, who describe themselves as East Omaha garage Rock, at 10. No price listed for this one, so you’re on your own.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) our old friends Las Cruxes headlines a free show at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Joining them are (kind of) new band The Rare Candies (Josh Medlock, Mitch Gettman, Ryan Menchaca and a fourth dude who’s probably pissed because he’s not listed anywhere on the band’s websites) and Kelroy. Just like the old days, this one doesn’t start until 9:30.

Also Saturday night, The Waiting Room is hosting a reunion of Omaha ska band Jimmy Skaffa. Joining them is Stick Figures and Plastic Presidents. $15, 8 p.m. Lotta people will be at this one (including on stage, if I remember this bands properly).

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Every year it’s the same thing — Criteria and Little Brazil at The Waiting Room. And this year is no exception.

These holiday shows are sort of Omaha music scene get-togethers. I honestly don’t know what Criteria has been up to for the past year. Will there be new music or just another evening of their greatest hits? Who knows?

On the other hand, Little Brazil started out the year releasing a new album, Just Leave, on Max Trax Records. Expect to hear songs from that one along with a few of their greatest hits.

Opening the festivities is Omaha indie band Uh Oh who’s last album was 2021’s Good Morning. It all gets rolling tonight at 8 p.m. Always one of the best shows of the year. $12. Don’t be a turkey. Take part in this festive holiday tradition…

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Welcome to Ice Station Zebra. Parkas are optional, but they’re a pain in the ass at the club. 

Couple shows tonight…

The Legendary Pink Dots are, in fact, legendary, though I hadn’t heard of them until this show was listed on the Reverb Lounge calendar. Formed in London in 1980, the band’s central dude is keyboardist Edward Ka-Spel. According to All Music, their high-water album was The Maria Dimension in 1991, released on PIAS Records, an album that AM said is the influence for their most recent album, The Museum of Human Happiness, which came out just this past spring. 

Their sound is goth electronic Dieter music kitschy old-school Euro. That said, they’ve been influential to such acts as Dresden Dolls, MGMT and Skinny Puppy. Opening is moody Denver performer Orbit Service a.k.a. Randall Frazier, who has collaborated with LPD in the past. 8 p.m., $27.

Also tonight, down the street at The Sydney, it’s Wichita post-punk band TF BUNDY (which, as any purveyor of the Urban Dictionary will tell you, stands for Totally Fucked but Unfortunately Not Dead Yet. Local heroes Pagan Athletes and Jeff in Leather open at 9 p.m. $10.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) is, of course, the big Black Lips show at The Slowdown. These ‘00s indie legends are still kicking after all these years. The Atlanta quintet is touring in support of Apocalypse Love (2022, Fire Records). According to Wiki, “The Black Lips are noted for provocative theatrics – including vomiting, urination, nudity, electric R.C. car races, fireworks, a chicken, flaming guitars and other un-predictable antics.” What will they do Saturday night? Opening is Omaha legend Solid Goldberg! Also on the bill is Bloodshot Bill, who film director John Waters describes as “like Roy Orbison with a head injury.” 8 p.m., $20 (worth it just for Goldberg).

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section, and have a great weekend!

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

An addendum to The Reader column about Saddle Creek Records recent releases…. there are a few artists off their recent roster who weren’t mentioned because they’ve been relatively dormant. Among them is Black Belt Eagle Scout, the project of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community-based multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul. Creek released a new single by BBES yesterday, “My Blood Runs Through This Land,” and announced a new LP out Feb. 10, 2023, which you can pre-order now. Psst… I actually like the second track, “Don’t Give Up,” (not to be confused with the Peter Gabriel song (but wouldn’t a cover of that be something)), more. Nothing like closing out your LP with a strong track. 

Saddle Creek’s most recent signing, Pittsburgh’s Feeble Little House, just got a review of the re-release of their debut album, Heyday, at Pitchfork, which said, “The Pittsburgh rock quartet’s newly reissued debut is a relentless, intentionally chaotic document of twentysomething existential dread.” Chaotic? Maybe not so much. Definitely a throw-back sound to ‘90s indie acts like Helium or even Chavez (yeah, I said it). The Pitchfork rating was 7.4, btw, which is high for a Saddle Creek release, but I’m finding that Pitchfork likes this era of Saddle Creek a whole lot more than they liked the first wave (and definitely the second Saddle Creek wave). 

. 0 0 0 .

Tonight at Reverb Lounge Aussie indie act The Murlocs headlines. The band has been recording and touring for a decade. Their latest, Rapscallion, was released in September on ATO Records.  Their sound has been described as “neo-psychedelia” but is closer to straight-on jangle-pop. Montreal singer/songwriter Paul Jacobs, who has been compared to Kurt Vile, opens at 8 p.m. $17.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here comes the weekend. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a single thing to do tonight show-wise, though Saturday is packed. It’s usually the other way around. So, here’s the line-up.

Friday night is a wasteland. Go to a movie.

Saturday you’ve got options. 

Our old pals Oquoa are headlining at fabulous O’Leaver’s Saturday night, no doubt still playing songs from they 2019 LP Timesquares. It’s indie awash in shoe-gaze awash in frontman Max Holmquist’s brassy tenor voice. Joining them on the bill are Steady Wells featuring Jordan Smith of Twinsmith. Singer/songwriter Alexis DeBoer, whose vocal style is more than a little reminiscent of Angel Olson, opens the show at 9 p.m. $10.

. 0 0 0 .

Meanwhile, across town at Reverb Lounge in Benson, Violenteer headlines a three-band bill Saturday night that includes the band Glow and Max Trax Records artist Leafblower.  $10, 9 p.m. 

. 0 0 0 .

Just around the corner at The Waiting Room, gothy industrial instrumental band Lucida Dark headlines a bill that includes Minor Movements, metal monsters Living Conditions and hot new indie sensation Bug Heaven. 8 p.m. $15.

. 0 0 0 .

And now for something completely different…

Sunday night, The Slowdown is hosting Kenyan-Ugandan industrial grindcore/noise act Duma. Their music is brutally heavy, downright punishing. Just listening to the below track makes me jittery and anxious. Imagine how it’ll sound live. Opening is Masma Dream World, the solo recording project of multi-disciplinary artist/healer Devi Mambouka. Kicking things off is Nebraska’s own leather-clad noise gimp Plack Blague. $20, 8 p.m. In the front room.

. 0 0 0 .

If noise ain’t your thing, our old pals Guster are back in town, this time at The Admiral (a.k.a. Sokol Auditorium). I still remember seeing them play at the old Ranch Bowl back in 1999 when they were just getting going (Here’s a fun Lazy-i interview from back in the day). Not sure what brings them back to Omaha as they don’t have new material coming out (that I know of). Still, should be a great show. Chicago band Ratboys opens at  7 p.m. $30 or $75 balcony.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

This month’s column in The Reader is a look at the latest wave of releases from Saddle Creek Records. Our hometown label keeps stretching, and the results can be quite impressive. Read the column online here or in print at newsstands around town (Hy-Vee, LaCasa, etc.).

. 0 0 0 .

Chicago post-punk band Meat Wave is playing a free show tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. They just released a pummeling new album, Malign Hex, on Swami Records and are about to hit the road opening for The Bronx. They’re longtime pals and tour mates with local heroes Cursive and haven’t been back through Omaha since their stint headlining Day 1 of O’Leaversfest before the pandemic. Omaha band Nowhere opens the show at 9 p.m.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

OK, a handful of new tracks from local artists or old friends with local connections have caught my ear recently. A quick run-down.

Lost in the background of Cursive’s upcoming tour for Domestica is a new track by David Knudson of Minus the Bear and Botch fame that features Cursive frontman Tim Kasher on vocals. “No Ways No Means” comes from Knudson’s new EP, Undo/Redo, which comes out this Friday. Mr. Kasher has never been in finer voice on a track that is absolutely scorching. 

Two Omaha legends – Denver Dalley (Desaparicidos) and Clark Baechle (The Faint) — have a new project called Weak Nights, that will soon be releasing material. But until then, the duo have penned a track with Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World called “Place Your Debts,” that just came out. In addition to having a great hook, the clever lyrics bend in on themselves in a clever way. Check it out. 

I just told you about two new ambient instrumental releases from former Omaha songster Kyle Harvey under his new moniker, When Light. Well, Kyle’s released yet another one, called The Shape of Time. Get lost in the aural waves of pleasure…

. 0 0 0 .

There’s a sneaky good show happening tonight at Reverb, totally under the radar….

Los Angeles melodic hardcore band Militarie Gun just got off the road opening for Saint Vitus and have a new album, All Roads Lead to the Gun (2022, Loma Vista). Heavy, hard and fast, no doubt there will be some moshing going on. Opening is Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based art-punk band MSPAINT and local hardcore legends BIB, plus two more openers – Public Opinion and Trucha. A five-band bill for $15. Starts at 7:30. 

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve checked out when it comes to politics this election season. Don’t get me wrong, I will vote today. But after years of watching asinine right-wing conspiracy theories gain traction with the willingly gullible (who aren’t that gullible, but who, in fact, are looking for ways to support racist and sexist candidates without having to admit that they are, in fact, racist and sexist), I’ve turned it off.

Today’s election comes down to one question: Are there more of them than there are of us? Because we’re not polarized from a political perspective, we’re polarized from a humanist perspective. So go out there and vote. That’s all any of us can do. Then turn it off and listen to some music.

. 0 0 0 .

Speaking of music, seems I’m always at rock shows on election nights. And there’s one tonight at The Slowdown. Epitaph band Hunny headlines. They’re described as a punk rock band but lean more toward the pop-punk/emo style. Their most recent album was the pre-covid Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes (2019, Epitaph). Cleveland’s The Sonder Bombs is fronted by singer/songwriter Willow Hawks. Her latest single, “The Star” was mixed by Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin. Omaha band Bliss opens at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24.99.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I checked out Marisa Anderson’s music prior to going to last Friday night’s God Speed You! Black Emperor show at The Admiral. Actually, I listened to her recordings most of the night before knowing I was going to write a preview for this show. Anderson plays solo guitar, mostly unaccompanied and her records, but totally alone Friday night. Prior to the show I thought it was a strange opener for what would likely be an orchestra-level wall-of-sound experience, but I was wrong.

Anderson stood on stage with just an electric guitar and played gorgeous, mostly somber instrumentals, slightly over-amplified, a wee bit overblown at times, making them sound stark and haunted. No question the music would have been completely different on an acoustic guitar (but just as good). Anderson introduced each song with a story or an explanation, my favorite being one about a man who came up to her after a show and asked why all her songs were sad. Her response: It’s what I play. Making you happy is not my job. After which, she wrote the happy sing she performed next (which was more majestic than happy).

She closed with another happy number — a song about the hummingbird who rules over her back yard. It turned out Anderson was the perfect opener, because the last thing you need before experiencing bombast is more bombast.

And bombast was what we got with God Speed You! Black Emperor. The band came on at the stroke of 9 p.m. to an audience of what looked like around 400 crowded on the floor in front of the stage. The ensemble’s eight members were spread out almost in a semi-circle so each could see the others clearly.

As the opening tones began to rise, I noticed next to me in the back of the room a woman standing on a riser behind four film projectors. Behind her, loops of film hung from a rod like black spaghetti. She began to feverishly look closely at pieces of the film with a red light that hung around her neck, and upon finding the right piece, threaded it through one of the projector’s top sprockets, leaving the rest to hang limp as the film spun in a loop. On the enormous screen behind the band glowed a jittering, scratched-out word – “HOPE”.

Throughout the night she created projected effects, mostly black-and-white looped films of airplane acrobatics, wheat harvesting, ‘70s New York Stock Exchange trading floor, swans, and so on. When the band performed “First of the Last Glaciers,” the film loops were of enormous glaciers floating in an ocean. The band could have created a digital version of what was being projected, but there was something warm and human knowing this woman was back there creating the visuals by hand.

The band sounded as spectacular as ever, playing mostly compositions from their 2021 album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! God Speed’s compositions generally start with a rhythm or noise, quietly and slowly building to a central looped melody with enormous electric guitars and acoustic instruments (violin, stand-up bass, percussion), before crescendo-ing and fading either to nothing or straight into the next number.

Their music has always been cinematic, but rarely felt so Western or traditional, with most songs falling into a 6/8 double-waltz time, lilting and building and splashing about like the deck of a ship in the middle of an ocean during a squall, beautiful and terrible, the audience staring up mesmerized by the spectacle.

. 0 0 0 .

Yesterday it was reported Mimi Parker from the band Low died after her long battle with ovarian cancer.

Low has long been one of my favorite bands, dating back to Things We Lost in the Fire in 2001, when I first interviewed the band. I would have that pleasure a number of times over the years, including interviewing Mimi in 2005 upon the release of The Great Destroyer and in support of their show at Sokol Underground. We talked mostly about her kids, Hollis and Cyrus, and the joys and challenges of touring with them and without them. They are who I’m thinking about today, along with her husband and band mate, Alan Sparhawk, and everyone whose lives were touched by Mimi and her music. She will be remembered, and missed.

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tonight’s Godspeed You! Black Emperor show at The Admiral is one of the weekend’s highlights. I saw the band the last time they came through back in 2016 when they played at The Slowdown. From the review:

Most compositions (songs?) were deep, repetitive ambient tonal melodies that evolved into haunting and/or majestic sweeps of sound. Sludgy, slow, deep ponderous movements were played in dim, deep-red sepia lighting, perfect for setting a mood or developing film. Overhead, the projections became less abstract — images of burning fields, film sprocket holes, a deer standing in a field, a sunset shot from inside a moving car — all in black-and-white (of course).

There wasn’t much on stage except lots of people leaning over things, huddled over guitars or effects pedals. Sometimes the compositions transformed into big rock numbers that reminded me of Meddle-era Pink Floyd or Mogwai, but most of the set was a pulsing dirge set to a 6/8 beat. It was beautiful and awful and exhausting. The set began at a quarter after 9. When I left at 11 and it was still going strong, the sold-out crowd standing in front of the stage was transfixed, mesmerized.

I expect more of the same tonight. It was a show better suited for a sit-down audience in, say, The Orpheum, or at a remodeled, majestic auditorium like The Admiral a.k.a. the old Sokol Auditorium (How long will I have to add that a.k.a. to The Admiral’s name?). 

Opening the show tonight is Portland-based guitarist/composer Marisa Anderson, whose latest album, Still, Here, was released earlier this year on Thrill Jockey. Her simple, quiet compositions are spare wilderness meditations you could imagine playing in the background as you walked across an open prairie during a winter afternoon, very much like the one pictured on her album cover. Tickets to the 8 p.m. show are $30 or $47 for balcony access. Today’s weather is the perfect accompaniment. 

Also tonight, Indiana “stoner-emo” band Cloakroom plays at Slowdown, Jr. The band is influenced by ‘90s acts like Red House Painters and Hum, and has a dense, sludgy, hypnotic sound on their latest album, Dissolution Wave (2022, Relapse). Joining them are Lincoln math-rock instrumentalists Turquoise and Lincoln grungers Ivory Daze (It’s veritable a Lincoln Invasion!). 8 p.m., $20. 

Also, it’s Benson First Friday. Enjoy some art and booze in the Benson District!

And it’s also Bandcamp Friday — you know the drill, Bandcamp and some independent record labels pass along their profits from sales directly to the artists, so it’s the best time to stock up on those releases you’ve been dying to buy. 

Saturday is a wasteland… again.

The weekend’s second big show is Death From Above 1979 Sunday at The Slowdown.  The Toronto act, fronted by Sebastian Grainger, dropped big into the scene with 2004’s You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine (Vice), which would prove to be their high-water mark. They’ve released three more albums, including 2021’s Is 4 Lovers (Spinefarm), as well as an unnecessary cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.’” Fellow Canadians The OBGMs open at 8 p.m. $30.

And that’s all I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments sections. Have a great weekend. 

* * *

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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.