by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

I haven’t been to a rock show since mid-August. — since Petfest, to be exact. It’s one of the longest lulls between rock shows for me in recent memory, but late August was a slow time for indie/college music in Omaha. 

One of the esteemed gentlemen who runs One Percent Productions – Marc Leibowitz – once told me that without him and the indie rock shows he books I’d have nothing to write about. He may have been right, but despite what Leibs said, there’s always things to write about, and moving forward to fill these lulls in touring indie shows, I’ll return to writing album reviews on a more frequent basis. 

Album reviews easily are the toughest thing for me to write, and while I question their value in this age when music is (practically) free, I still get a ton of label requests to write about releases (Ah, but not like the old days, when the labels sent CDs! I loved to come home to a mailbox overflowing with manila envelopes…). We also used to have a lot more local indie bands recording and releasing albums, which simply ain’t the case no more… 

Anyway, the balance of the month is looking busy as does October. Check out the updated “Up-and-Coming’ calendar below. On top of the list is tonight’s show at Reverb Lounge. 

Austin’s A Giant Dog have come through town a few times over the years, including shows at Milk Run back in 2016 and on the River City Star in 2017 (Shipwrecked! Fest). They describe their sound as “… raucous ear candy culled from the hook-driven melodies of Slade, the glammy swagger of Marc Bolan, the morbid fantasy of Killer-era Alice Cooper, and the unpredictable wit of Sparks.” That’s quite a spate of comparisons. 

That said, the five-piece, fronted by vocalist Sabrina Ellis, does have a throwback sound that recalls over-the-top FM radio rock, especially on their latest EP, Raw (2024, Merge Records). Expect onstage theatrics? Opening tonight at 8 p.m. is local indie rockers Bad Actors. $20!

And here’s the rest of the up-and-coming touring indie/college music calendar for the balance of September into October. Let me know if I’m missing anything.

• Sept. 5 – A Giant Dog @ Reverb
• Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 12 – Magdalena Bay @ The Waiting Room
• Sept. 14 – Gillian Welch & David Rawlings @ The Astro
• Sept. 18 – David Dondero @ Ming Toy Gallery
• Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
• Sept. 22 — Bright Eyes @ Steelhouse
• Sept. 23 — M. Ward @ The Waiting Room
• Sept. 24 – Why? @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 25 – Descendents @ The Admiral
• Sept. 26 – Foxing @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 27 – Shovels & Rope @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 1 – Odie Leigh @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
• Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
• Oct. 4 – High Vis @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 7 – Saturdays at Your Place @ Reverb
• Oct. 8 – Boris @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 9 – Jeffery Lewis @ Grapefruit Records
• Oct. 10 – MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 10 – Melt @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 10 – Pixel Grip @ Reverb
• Oct. 12 – The Red Pears @ Reverb
• Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room 
• Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
• Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
• Oct. 23 – Kate Nash @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb
• Oct. 31 – Lunar Vacation @ The Slowdown
• Nov. 12 – Modest Mouse @ Steelhouse

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

It’s that time of year again. Lazy-i will be on hiatus tomorrow and this weekend as we take in the sights and sounds of New York City.  So what’ll I be missing?

Tonight (Thursday) The Sydney is hosting a handful of folk artists with Nashville-by-way-of-North Carolina’s Brooks Forsyth in the headliner position. The inimitable Sean Pratt ialso is on the bill along with Tom Bartolomei. 8 p.m., $10. 

Friday night, LA indie/surf-rock act The Buttertones plays Reverb Lounge. The band reinvented itself with new personnel after being mentioned in a #metoo controversy involving Burger Records, according to a Los Angeles Times story.  Tucson duo New Misphoria also is on the bill along with show-opener Las Cruxes. $25, 8 p.m.

Saturday night, prog-metal giants Mastodon plays at the Astro Amphitheater with Lamb of God, Kerry King and Malevolence. This one likely will be enjoyed throughout the entire La Vista community. $50-$150, 5:30 p.m. 

Also Saturday night, emerging Nebraska indie band Cowgirl Eastern headlines at Slowdown with Ohm Shell and Three of Cups. 8 p.m., $15.

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

This morning Neva Dinova’s publicist, Terrorbird Media, sent out links to the band’s latest video, which also happens to be the last-ever Love Drunk-produced video. Love Drunk mastermind, Django Greenblatt-Seay, is ending the series with No. 150.1, a video for Neva Dinova’s “Edge of Something.” 

Love Drunk got its start way back in June 2010 when Django shot a one-take video of Portland singer-songwriter Nick Jaina. A year later, I wrote about Love Drunk for my column in The Reader, which you can still read online here in Lazy-i. 

Love Drunk produced videos fast and furiously over its first five or six years for bands including many of Saddle Creek Records’ stable of artists (Cursive, Criteria, Orenda Fink, The Mynabirds, among others) and other national acts like The Menzingers, The Photo Atlas and Cymbals Eat Guitars. But Love Drunk’s bread-and-butter was videos for Nebraska artists, and just about every great band from that era was represented. You can check out the entire Love Drunk video catalog at the Love Drunk YouTube channel.

So why is Django hanging it up? “I don’t need the project as much as I did when I was in my 20s and early 30s,” he said. “I put all that work in, and reaped the benefits, but I no longer have the drive to own it.”

Instead, Django’s in conversations with some younger people interested in building something similar to Love Drunk but that could end up being more like a KEXP’s or the Tiny Desk Concert video series. More to come!

When I went to the Love Drunk channel I discovered that in addition to the “Edge of Something” video there’s also a new video for Neva Dinova’s “Someone’s Love,” which also went online today. Both are below. 

Neva Dinova via Terrorbird also announced a couple new rock show dates, including a headlining gig Sept. 13 at Slowdown. They’ll also be playing Sept. 17 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. 

The new Neva album, Canary, drops Sept. 27 on Saddle Creek Records. Pre-order your copy 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

No touring indie/college bands are coming through town this weekend (What else is new?).

Tonight, Jeremy Mercy and the Rapture Orphans are headlining at The Sydney. Mercy has been releasing a series of new country-rock singles, including the one below. Are these part of an upcoming album? Ask him tonight. Joining Mercy and his band are Frankie Chiaro and Watson & Co. $10, 8 p.m. 

Tomorrow, Black Heart Booking hosts its annual Punk Rock BBQ at Reverb Lounge. The “summer tradition” combines “the love of loud, crazy punk rock music and delicious flame-seared delicacies.” Among the bands are Hand Painted Police Car, DSM-5 and Bad Actors. Full line-up and details here. $30, 4 p.m. 

And that about does it. There’s basically nothing happening indie/college music-wise for the balance of the month, which is a shame considering we’ll be entering Husker Hell soon. Oh well… 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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

For Throwback Thursday, a blog entry from 20 years ago… Whatever happened to Beep Beep? Whatever happened to The Goofy Foot?

Beep Beep and a peek behind the Creek; Kyle Harvey says goodbye, The Lepers tonight – Aug. 19, 2004

I guess you can call this extended version of the Beep Beep profile/interview (read it here) a Lazy-i exclusive — The Reader chopped off about a third of the story to make room for ads (I think they also cut my Sebadoh story as well — hey, that’s business). You get an interesting look inside the decision-making process that Creek goes through when they bring on a new band. Beep Beep is the latest expansion team in this successful league of indie rock stars. The fact that the band thinks of itself as the “black sheep” of the label is amusing and fitting and probably appropriate. Creek may not have a “sound” as Jason Kulbel says, but they do have certain boundaries that the bands are comfortable playing within, and Beep Beep breaks through them all. Yeah, Creek doesn’t have a “sound,” and they don’t really have anything like Beep Beep, either. There’s something strange and psychotic about their music, something that borders on violence and voyeurism, an eccentric decadence indeed. The guys in Beep Beep are as curious as anyone as to how their oddity will mesh with the rest of the label’s bands, which seem almost mainstream in comparison. As Chris Hughes says, “The record takes five listens to get the hook. If you give it a chance, you’ll get it.” I just don’t know if indie America (or America in general, for that matter) has the patience or the attention span to listen to anything five times. 

Tonight’s shows: Kyle Harvey “and friends” at the Goofy Foot — it’s being billed as one of his last Omaha performances before he moves to Nashville. Meanwhile The Lepers and Players Club are at O’Leaver’s. Very unlikely that I’ll attend either show as I’m looking at three days in a row starting Friday night. Instead, I might check out the Metallica documentary at The Dundee Theater — I hate Metallica, but I hear this is a good flick. If I go, I’ll pass on a review tomorrow.

Check-in: The Good Life, Album of the Year; The Faint, Wet from Birth.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

It’s time for a fresh look at the touring indie band gig calendar for Omaha. Notable additions include High Vis Oct. 4 (that’ll be a busy Friday night!), Jeffrey Lewis at Grapefruit Oct. 9, M. Ward Sept. 23 at The Waiting Room and Modest Mouse Nov. 12 at Steelhouse Omaha. That makes three Steelhouse shows on the calendar, with Bright Eyes playing Steelhouse Sept. 22 and Molchat Doma playing there next year (Feb. 24)…

• Sept. 5 – A Giant Dog @ Reverb
• Sept. 12 – Soft Kill @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 18 – David Dondero @ Ming Toy Gallery
• Sept. 21 – Built to Spill @ The Waiting Room
• Sept. 22 — Bright Eyes @ Steelhouse
• Sept. 23 — M. Ward @ The Waiting Room
• Sept. 24 – Why? @ The Slowdown
• Sept. 25 – Descendents @ The Admiral
• Sept. 26 – Foxing @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 1 – Odie Leigh @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 1 – Jungle @ The Astro
• Oct. 4 – Brigitte Calls Me Baby @ Reverb
• Oct. 4 – High Vis @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 4 – Turnover @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 5 – Fontaines D.C. @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 7 – Saturdays at Your Place @ Reverb
• Oct. 8 – Boris @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 9 – Jeffery Lewis @ Grapefruit Records
• Oct. 10 – MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 10 – Melt @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 12 – The Red Pears @ Reverb
• Oct. 16 – Mdou Moctar @ The Waiting Room 
• Oct. 17 – Superchunk @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 18-19 – Cursive @ The Waiting Room
• Oct. 20 – Jeff Tweedy @ The Admiral
• Oct. 22 – Psychedelic Furs/Jesus and Mary Chain @ The Astro
• Oct. 23 – Kate Nash @ The Slowdown
• Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb
• Oct. 31 – Lunar Vacation @ The Slowdown
• Nov. 12 – Modest Mouse @ Steelhouse

Am I missing something? Let me know…

With Petfest behind us, Omaha’s festival season is now officially over. I’ve sent multiple emails to Maha Music Festival organzers about 2025 plans and… radio silence. Can’t be a good thing, can it?

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A head’s up on a few new local things I’ve been listening to…

Midwest Dilemma is back. Sure, singer/songwriter Justin Lamoureux has played here and there over the past few years but he hasn’t released any new music since 2008’s Timelines & Tragedies. The new one, Searching for the Cure for Loneliness, is slated for release Sept. 13. 

Says Lamoureux: “These songs are rooted in the early days of Midwest Dilemma and most of them were recorded in guitarist Nic Johnson’s basement in 2011. Time passed as it always does and these recordings were put on the shelf until they began resurfacing in 2019. The songs never really left, but their stories became more and more relevant as we experienced the loss of family and friends, the absence of friends that moved away, and then the fear and isolation of the pandemic. These songs have been a part of us for over 13 years and witnessing their rebirth all these years later has been transformative.”

He said my favorite song from the new album, a banger called “Stolen Car,” was originally supposed to be recorded in 2011 when the rest of the album was recorded. “Ian (Aeillo, sound engineer extraordinaire) recorded it at Make Believe (Studio) in 1 day, getting in all the players including my 3 littles. It was magical,” Lamoureux said. I’d share the track with you, but he’s holding back on that one, so you’ll just have to wait. 

As with his last record, there’s a shit-ton of musicians on the new album: In addition to Lamoureux on guitar and vocals, you have Nic Johnson, guitar, vox; Joye VanTrimmell, cello, Vox; Ben Arunski, tuba, trombone; John Klemmensen & Unknown, trumpets; Tyler Cook, upright bass; Kaitlyn Hova, violin; Jackie Six, flute; Ian Simmons & Elizabeth Webb, clarinets; Bob Schimpf, bassoon; Dan McCarthy, accordion; Rebecca Lowry, ukulele; Django Greenblatt-Seay, banjolin; Jason Ferguson, mandolin, lap steel; Aaron Jordan, Rhodes, piano; Scott Zimmerman, vibraphone; Matt Arbeiter, drums; Inaiah & Chela Lujan, vox; Ella, Idelle & Luci Lamoureux, vox. Whew!

Lamoureux said he’s trying to get a 12+ sized band on stage for the album’s release show, which is Sept. 13 at Benson Theatre (He’s currently rehearsing with nine musicians). Joining them will be old pals Brad Hoshaw and Kyle Harvey. It’ll be just like Benson 2008 all over again! 

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Omaha singer/songwriter Anna McClellan today dropped a single called “Jam the Phones” via Father/Daughter Records. This follows two earlier singles, “Hold You Close,” and “Like a Painting.” Can a full-on album be far behind? Check out the lyric video, directed by Katrina Peterson:

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I generally don’t like cover songs, preferring to simply enjoy the originals, but I do dig Mitch Gettman’s cover of the Jimmy Webb/Glen Campbell chestnut “Wichita Lineman,” which just dropped earlier this week. 

I guess we’re entering an era once again where artists need to record and release covers, understanding they can pique the interest of new listeners, especially when performed live, because these days, the only way musicians are making any money is playing live on stage…

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Speaking of which, tonight, PACKS headlines at Slowdown’s front room. You can read a Ten Questions interview with PACKS frontperson Madeline Link right here. Omaha slacker-indie phenoms The Dirts get things started tonight at 8 p.m. $18.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Like I said yesterday, Outlandia Festival won the weather lottery. They should have perfect weather for their two-day concert, which begins this afternoon at Falconwood Park in Bellevue. 

This year’s line-up is on par with what they’ve done the past two years. I’m listening to the Outlandia 2024 playlist on Spotify as I type this mainly to catch up on the handful of acts I’m not familiar with: Men I Trust, The Revivalists, Flipturn.

The familiar names should be familiar to anyone who has gone to an indie show in Omaha over the past… 20 years?  Tonight’s headliner, Flaming Lips, just played at Steelhouse Omaha last year and it sounds like a repeat of their Yoshimi concert, which quite honestly, is the only music most folks know. Which is a shame, because The Lips’ early, proggy experimental stuff would be a kick to see performed live.

Men I Trust is a Canadian trio fronted by singer/songwriter Emma Proulx with a smooth, indie-pop vibe. They self-released their last full-length, 2021’s Untourable Album, and boast about 7.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify. 

Vacations, who also plays this evening at Outlandia, is an Aussie four-piece, that also plays soothing dream-pop, with song titles like “Relax” and “Honey.” They release stuff on Nettwerk and No Fun Records, and played at Reverb Lounge back in spring 2022. 

See a trend here? Tonight is rounding out to be a very laid-back evening in the park… well, except for The Faint. I’ve talked to more folks who are excited about The Faint’s set than any other on the Outlandia bill, despite the fact that the band hasn’t released new music in years and just played Outlandia last year. In addition to their 7:30 performance, The Faint is hosting a DJ set at midnight on the Falconwood Stage where Grrrl Camp was held. 

Omaha bands Ex Lover and Twinsmith are today’s openers.

Outlandia ratchets up the rock tomorrow (Saturday) Headliner The Head and the Heart is a local favorite, or so it seems as they play here a lot, most recently just last year at Pinewood Bowl (a show, that if my memory serves, did very well but got rained on after Fr. John Misty’s set?). 

The first time I heard of The Revivalists was when they announced this festival’s line-up. Totally off my radar (but then again, so was Lord Huron last year).  Hailing from the Big Easy, the eight-piece has had their sound described as “roots rock,” and have among their credits opening for the Rolling Stones’ No Regrets tour in St. Louis, as well as 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify (their hit “Wish I Knew You” has 216 million listens and was used in a Blue Moon commercial). Their music has a Dave Matthews tang. Interesting Revivalists trivia: Their 2014 album, City of Sound, was released by Wind-up Records, who released albums by Commander Venus (and Creed). 

Flipturn was another new one on me. They’re playing in Chicago tonight with Revivalists, which might explain why they’re on this bill. From Fernandina Beach, Florida, they play a shimmery style of indie pop, releasing their last album on Dualtone Records. 

At the core of tomorrow’s schedule are sets by ‘90s indie band Buffalo Tom and old reliable Dinosaur Jr. (Dinosaur Jr. cancelled). For my money, Buffalo Tom alone is worth the price of admission if you, like me, grew up with 1992’s Let Me Come Over. Their videos were a staple on the old MTV 120 Minutes program back in the day. 

Gypsey caberet act Devotchka, another local favorite, also is on the bill. Tomorrow’s opening bands are The Eye, a band that includes Outlandia Festival organizer Tyler Owen. They’re followed by Kentucky-based country singer Kelsey Waldon.

Set times are below. If you’re still wondering what the heck is Falconwood Park, read my feature on the park that was published yesterday at Flatwater Free Press. The park is a great location. Don’t be afraid of Sarpy County.

More info including tickets, parking, maps, what have you, are at OutlandiaFestival.com.

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What else is happening tonight?

Well, Sacramento punk duo Dog Party is headlining a four-band bill tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Joining them are The Rare Candies, Las Cruxes and Bruiser Queen. No idea on cost, though when I clicked into the ticket info link it said $12, but tickets were no longer available, which either means it’s sold out (unlikely) or $12 at the door. 8 p.m. start time.

Also, Lincoln-based leather-electro-freak-out artist Plack Blague headlines at The Waiting Room with Moon 17 Saturday night. $15, 9 p.m. 

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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A personal highlight of attending this year’s Grrrl Camp festival was getting a personal tour of the Falconwood Park compound by 1% Production’s Jim Johnson. During the golf-cart adventure I met Brandon and Jim Miller, the proprietors of Falconwood, who briefly recapped the park’s story. 

So inspired was I by their tale of overcoming one disaster after another only to come out with one of area’s premiere event facilities that I pitched the story to the fine folks at Flatwater Free Press. They said “proceed,” and lo and behold, the story was published yesterday. 

You can read the story right here at the Flatwater Free Press website. It details the Millers’ history of the park, from acquisition through disasters, and also includes comments from Outlandia’s Tyler Owen about how and why he and his team choose the site for their annual music festival. Give it a read.

I got this one done just under the wire. Outlandia Festival begins tomorrow at Falconwood, and despite what has been the worst weather year I’ve lived (survived) through (flooding rains, grapefruit-sized-hail storms, blistering heatwaves and last week’s hurricane-force windstorm), Outlandia is lucking into one of the best weather-weekends of the year. 

During the reporting, everyone talked about reasons folks have yet to venture out to the park for past festivals or events. Distance and unfamiliarity were on the list, but one of the toppers was concern about park access – Falconwood Park is accessed by taking the Glenwood Exit driving on Interstate 75 and then taking Highway 34  a few hundred yards to narrow, two-lane South 8th St. to  Falconwood’s main entrance, where you’re on an even narrower barely two-lane road to the parking fields. If you saw it on a map you’d think, “man, getting in and out of there during a festival has to be a nightmare.”

The organizers know you’re thinking this and have prepared to make coming and going as smooth as possible. They tell me there’s never been a severe backup leaving the park. Tyler Owen, one of Outlandia’s organizers, put it this way: 

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been stuck in a Husker parking garage after a football game. It ain’t that,” he said. “We watched the line of red tail lights and it was maybe bad for 15 or 20 minutes, but it wasn’t (like) getting stuck on the top deck of a parking garage in Lincoln.” 

I’ve talked to a number of folks who have attended past Outlandia Festivals and all said getting out of the park wasn’t a headache. If what Tyler and the Outlandia team says is true, it’ll be tested Friday night when The Faint (and not headliner The Flaming Lips) close out the first day’s festivities. I’ve talked to more people excited about The Faint than any other band on the festival’s bill this year. The Head and the Heart close out Saturday night. 

The full band line-up and other specifics are at outlandiafestival.com. I’ll write more about the bands tomorrow w/some sound clips, etc. All three tiers of tickets are still available.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yesterday Bright Eyes dropped the second single, “Rainbow Overpass,” from the band’s upcoming full-length, Five Dice, All Threes, slated for release Sept. 20 on Dead Oceans. 

From the press release: “The bright, punky anthem is propelled by acoustic guitar, horns, and fist-pumping gang vocals featuring Alex Orange Drink of The So So Glos, the accelerating tempo like a speeding car driving off the eponymous rainbow overpass.”

It kinda sounds like a kinder, gentler version of Desaparecidos, a band desperately needed in these trying times. Or maybe soft-hearted Titus Andronicus? The band also announced an extensive North American Tour for 2025 (god-dang, is it 2025 already?). Check the tour dates here. 

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Manhattan-based self-described “indie pop / dream pop” band Cults headlines tonight at The Waiting Room. Cults is Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin, but live they’re backed by a full band. Cults was kind enough to do a Ten Questions interview back in 2017 (which gives you an idea just how long I’ve been doing these Ten Questions surveys – I got a new one with PACKS coming out next week). 

From that 10Q interview:

1. What is your favorite album?

Cults: Home Schooled-The ABCs Of Kid Soul. Pretty sure everyone in our band could sing every lyric to every song from this record. The mix of incredible musicianship with the most bizarre/touching vocal performances you’ve ever heard perfectly rides the line between emotionality and kitsch.

2. What is your least favorite song?

Sugar Ray, “Every Morning.” I once had the song stuck in my head for an entire year. It’s a great song but having any song stuck in your head for that long will ruin it for you!

Read all 10 questions and answers here. Opening for Cults tonight is Chicago indie band Bnny. 8 p.m., $27.

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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 © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.