Column 332: 2Q 2011 Report: Winners and Sinners

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

All that sweat and pain just so some snide motherf**ker with a set of headphones can boil it down to a few sentences. Was it all worth it? Below, a summary of notable 2Q’11 releases:

Absolutely must buy:

 

The Rosebuds, Loud Planes Fly Low (Merge) — They used to be known as “the husband-and-wife duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp,” but rock has a way of driving people apart, and the couple split in ’09. The result is dense, trippy, atmospheric, lost and found, a reinvention, a triumph, and one of the best rock albums of the year.

 

Fucked Up, David Comes to Life (Matador) — By taking a step away from hardcore toward hard rock they now have more in common with Thin Lizzy and The Hold Steady than Black Flag and Minor Threat, and we all win for it, thanks to huge, fat guitar lines and — get this — melodies. Don’t worry, ol’ Pink Eyes still sounds like he gargled with broken glass. Essential.

 

tUnE yArDs, w h o k i l l (4AD) — Night and day is the difference between this and the unlistenable debut Bird-Brains. Our protagonist, Merrill Garbus, has gone from experimental noodling to full-on (indie) dance rock that owes a debt to early Talking Heads and thick, hard, urban beats.

 

The Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (Capitol) — Worthy of the hype, they haven’t sounded this “fresh” since Paul’s Boutique, even though their bouncing style of hip-hop is destined to be classified as “old school” by today’s young gangstas. I’ll reach for this over Big Sean, Jay-Z and Kanye every time, but maybe that just betrays my age. The finest three opening tracks of any album so far this year.

 

Well Aimed Arrows, Adult Entertainment (unreleased) — Intelligent punk with big-shoulder swing, dissonant male/female harmonies, jangling ringing electric guitars, sing-along choruses and a straight-four beat. Best lyrics of any band going, period. What more do you want? Too bad you can’t buy a copy, yet…

 

EMA, Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions) — With the opening line of “California,” (Fuck California, you made me boring) Erika M. Anderson positions herself as this generation’s Chan Marshall (the Moon Pix one), Liz Phair (the good one) and PJ Harvey (the one that wants to bathe in milk).

 

Virgin Islands, Ernie Chambers V. God (The Control Group) — The finest effort of former Omahan Mike Jaworski’s fabled career (The Cops), and the first one that I can and will unequivocally endorse. More rock than punk, his big guitars are tempered with big melodies and thrum-thrum drums. Come back to Omaha, lad.

 

SBTRKT, self-titled (Young Turks) — Dubstep electronic debut by London DJ Aaron Jerome is a midnight-beat wonderland made for dance floors or runways or headphones. He sets the stage for lush guest vocalists (Sampha, Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagona, Roses Gabor) with a sound that is dreamy and dense infused with sharp bits of bright, bright lights.

 

The Unthanks, Last (Rough Trade) — Sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank blend gorgeous harmonies around gorgeous British folk and gorgeous acoustic arrangements for an album that is revelatory and triumphant as it is reflective and mournful. Music for the morning after, or the afternoon.

 

Memphis, Here Comes a City (Arts & Crafts) — From the people who brought you Stars (Torquil Campbell) and Metric (Chris Dumont) comes a collection of finger-snapping happy modern pop songs with lines like “I know, it’s the end of the world today, because we said so,” sung (presumably) with a smile.

 

Washed Out, Within and Without (Sub Pop) — A reimagining of the best parts of ’80s and ’90s indie dance routines (Depeche Mode, New Order) wrapped in a modern chillwave package that’s better than chillwave. Actually, how ’bout we deep-six that whole chillwave label once and for all?

Pretty good:

Pantha Du Prince, XI Versions of Black Noise (Rough Trade) — Interesting  takes on his Black Noise, but not as good as the original.

Art Brut, Brilliant! Tragic! (Cooking Vinyl) — A little of these guys goes a long way, but worth it if only for “Bad Comedian” and “Axl Rose.”

Zomby, Dedication (4AD) — Throbbing dubstep masterwork whose bite-size smaller tracks are true highlights.

Cold Cave, Cherish The Light Years (Matador) — Explosive follow-up to the better Lover Comes Close, shattering and sometimes shrill but never boring.

Friendly Fires, Pala (XL) — We used to call this club music. A celebration.

Thurston Moore, Demolished Thoughts (Matador) — Thurston with his blue guitar tries his hand at recreating Beck’s Sea Change, and (for the most part) succeeds.

Worth considering:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Belong (Slumberland)

The Rural Alberta Advantage, Departing (Saddle Creek)

The Felice Brothers, Celebration Florida (Fat Possum)

The Twilight Singers, Dynamite Steps (Sub Pop)

Psychedelic Horshit, Laced (FatCat)

Colourmusic, My __ Is Pink (Memphis Industries)

Do Not Pass Go

The Bell, Great Heat (Badman Recording Co.)

Paper Cuts, Fading Parade (Sub Pop)

Elbow, Build a Rocket Boys (Polydor / Fiction)

Micachu & The Shapes, Chopped & Screwed (Rough Trade)

GIVERS, In Light (Glassnote)

* * *

Jeremy Messersmith, who played a set last night at Slowdown Jr. with a 3-piece backing band that included cello and keyboards, is where Matthew Sweet was around the time his third album, Earth, was released in 1989. Despite being signed to a major label, Sweet, a native if Lincoln, NE, was an unknown commodity who was writing some of the best hook-filled pop songs that were heard by virtually no one. Then came 1991’s Girlfriend, and everything changed. Not only was it a commercial breakthrough, it would end up being Sweet’s high-water mark, one of the best pop albums of the ’90s.

Both Sweet and Messersmith are masters of the pop hook. Earth was Sweet’s third album. The Reluctant Graveyard is Messersmith’s third album. There are two striking differences: 1) The Reluctant Graveyard is a better record than Earth, and 2) The music industry that launched Sweet in 1991 no longer exists. Is it even possible in this day when artists simply give away their music online for Messersmith to break through to that Girlfriend level? I guess it all depends on how good Messersmith’s next album is.

This is a meandering way of saying that Messersmith deserves that level of national attention based not only on his previous records but especially on last night’s performance. Though entertaining as a solo acoustic artist using a series of digital looping pedals (as he did last time he played at Slowdown), it doesn’t compare to what we saw and heard last night with his amazing band. His songs were “filled out” to a level even better than heard on Messersmith’s  painstakingly detailed recordings.

No one these days sings quite like him (his voice is high and sweet and clear), or writes pop songs that are so, well, perfect. Perfect little pop songs. Is there still a market for such things? If so, Messersmith is sitting on a goldmine.

* * *

Tonight at The Brother’s Lounge it’s the return of Masters of the Obvious, more frequently referred to as M.O.T.O. I’m told Mr. Caporino will be backed tonight by a certain local punk rocker whose last performance involved a mele at O’Leaver’s. Playing right before M.O.T.O., our very own Digital Leather. Also on the bill are Worried Mothers and Prairies. All for a right price of just $5. Show starts at 9 p.m.

It’s not the only show happening tonight. The Photo Atlas returns to O’Leaver’s with Little Brazil and The Noise FM. $5, 9:30.

Also tonight, Bazooka Shootout plays at The Waiting Room with Capgun Coup and Kyle Harvey. $7, 9 p.m.

Too bad we can’t be in three places at one time, eh?

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just as one would expect at the local debut of the label’s latest signing, it was a virtual Saddle Creek homecoming at the Big Harp show Friday night at Slowdown Jr. Chris Senseney started the set all by himself with his guitar before being joined by wife Stefanie and a drummer who I’m told used to play with him in Baby Walrus.

You wouldn’t have known that this was only the second time The Senseneys performed under the Big Harp banner. They were completely at ease with the material, as if they’d been playing these songs for years (and who knows, maybe they have, in the privacy of their El Lay living room). On stage the more upbeat story songs had an extra dimension of assertive cool, an undisputed sinister swing and bounce. Chris’ voice glowed with a throaty brio, matched in swagger only by his fret-burning guitar work (lest we all had forgotten what a fantastic musician Mr. Senseney is on a variety of instruments). It’s a golden needle of a voice that could catch on with a larger crowd if only it were discovered in the 10,000-foot-high haystack we call the music industry. We’ll have to see what kind of publicity Saddle Creek can muster upon tBig Harp’s debut release Sept. 13. Someone get Pitchfork on the phone…

Saturday night was spent at the second evening of the OEAA Summer Showcase in Benson, the highlights of which included Dim Light at The Sydney and Blue Rosa at The Waiting Room.  I’m told the crowds in general were larger on Friday night. There were only 30 or so in The Sydney and only a few more than that at TWR. Burke’s Pub, where I saw Manny Coon, was the most crowded room of the evening, but still only had 30 or 40 people total.

Finally, this morning the MAHA organizers announced that the winner of the talent contest portion of the OEAA showcase was The Big Deep. The band, whose music I’ve never heard before, received the most public votes among all the acts performing, and has earned the opening slot at this year’s MAHA Music Festival. And with that, MAHA’s lineup is finally complete.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I was a bit surprised at the turnout for last night’s Get-Up Kids show at The Waiting Room. The band’s heyday was almost a decade ago. They broke up in the mid-’00s. And even at their height, they were never on my shortlist of important indie bands, veering more closely to the “alternative rock” / AP-style power-pop emo rock bands that Vagrant loved so much back then. That style of “emo” — some might say true emo — always felt more adolescent that indie rock, perfect for 18-year-olds (as GUK’s Rob Pope said). Nothing wrong with that, except that such style of music tends not to age so well.  Anyway, I figured their fans had forgotten them or moved past their music, but lo and behold, there were around 100 people at last night’s show, a testament to just how popular GUK was back in the day.

I got to the club at around 9:30 when I discovered the second opening band, The Globes, were already well into their set — uh-oh, the start time was 8 p.m., not 9 p.m. as I said yesterday. Apologies to anyone who showed up late (the good news — it would be an early evening). The Globes recently signed to once-trendy Pacific Northwest label Barsuk, original home of Death Cab for Cutie and Rilo Kiley, among others, so I was curious if they carried on those bands’ tradition. They didn’t. Though a solid band with a terrific rhythm section, I’d classify them as indie prog bordering on noise-rock with tiny peeps of melody trying to escape through the cracks, despite having two pretty good vocalists that weren’t afraid to harmonize. The Globes are one of those bands where, moments after a song ends you couldn’t recall the central melody (if there even was one). That said, it’s not the kind of music you’re going to “get” in one listen (especially if that first listen is from in front of the stage). I think there’s something interesting hidden in all those time-shifts and chord changes, but I don’t know if I have the patience to find out what it is.

The Get-Up Kids came on at around 10:30, looking older and wiser and more confident than I remember them from the old days. Their music hasn’t changed much. Even their new stuff has that roaring anthemic lilt, like a Midwestern indie combination of Green Day and Weezer, but without either of those bands’ knack for hooks. Never being a big fan of the band, I couldn’t tell you which songs were oldies and which were new, though the crowd obviously knew the difference, occasionally bursting with applause to a familiar opening riff. The best moments were songs that leaned more on synth lines rather than riffage, though after a few songs everything began to blend into one long alt-rock tune that their fans obviously loved.

* * *

It’s a busy weekend for music. The highlight is the Omaha debut of Saddle Creek Records’ newest act, Big Harp

, tonight at Slowdown Jr. I suspect that the crowd will be rife with familiar faces as it will be a homecoming of sorts for The Senseneys. Opening is Kansas City/Lawrence Americana band The Grisly Hand and local favorites Gus & Call (ex-Bear Country, get there early for their set). $8, 9 p.m.

The other big event of the weekend is, of course, The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards Summer Showcase in Benson tonight and tomorrow night. The program is the same as in year’s past — bands will be playing all night in five Benson clubs — The Sydney, The Waiting Room, Burke’s Pub, The Barley Street and PS Collective — starting at 8 p.m. A $10 wristband gets you into all the clubs all night, or you can buy 2-night access for $15.  The full schedule is in Facebook, here.

As in year’s past, one band among the 55 participating will be voted via public ballot to play the “local stage” at this year’s MAHA Music Festival at Stinson Park / Aksarben Village Aug. 13.

Also as in year’s past, the bands performing are of a, shall we say, “Benson flavor.” Once again  there are no representatives from the city’s important, progressive records labels — i.e., no bands from Speed! Nebraska, Saddle Creek Records, Rainy Road, Doom Town, Grotto or Slumber Party Records — nor any of the first-tier acts who are on other labels or are looking for labels, such as So-So Sailors, Conduits, Icky Blossoms, Little Brazil, Digital Leather, etc.  This continues to be a MAJOR problem with the entire OEAA program, which is supposed to be celebrating the best bands in the area. But the organizers don’t care, nor do the clubs, who are getting their usual two-nights’ worth of free entertainment on their stages.

I know, I know…that big ugly thing lying in the middle of the road is a dead horse, and all I’m doing is kicking it again… As I told one person who was bitching about the OEAAs the other night at O’Leavers — it is what it is. No, the area’s best talent is not represented at their showcase, but it’s still a good time if only to be able to bump around Maple St. from club to club all night. The only thing that would make it better (besides, of course, involving the area’s best bands) would be closing down Maple St. altogether and turning Benson into a giant beer garden so you could take your drinks with you from club to club.

Speaking of O’Leaver’s, tomorrow night (Saturday) McCarthy Trenching plays everyone’s favorite drunk-tank, with Lincoln band Kill County. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Then Sunday night, Deleted Scenes returns to O’Leaver’s with Landing on the Moon. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Finally, it’s another blast-from-the-past Sunday night when another old Vagrant band, Alkaline Trio, headlines a show at The Slowdown with Smoking Popes. $18/$20 DOS, show starts at 8.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yeah, I know. Cheap Trick ain’t exactly “indie.” And looking over my record collection I realize I own all of zero Cheap Trick records. But as someone pointed out, why would I need to buy any since all their best songs are played in regular rotation on Z-92? If I need a Cheap Trick fix (or Zeppelin fix or AC/DC fix) I always can turn it to the Z for an hour for a helping of “The Flame” or “Surrender” or “The Dream Police.”

That said, Cheap Trick was always one of the cooler radio bands of the ’70s. Certainly cooler than REO Speedwagon or Journey. The chance to see them for free Friday night — and just a few blocks from my house — well, I’d be stupid to turn that down.

The impact of moving the Memorial Park concert stage from the “west bowl” — where it’s always been held as long as I can remember — to the north side of the park was immediate. In year’s past, wife-beater-pulling-a-cooler traffic began as early as noon on show day. Not this year. In fact, if someone had been searching for a parking space, there were plenty down by my house — unheard of in years past.

But the best part of the shift was seen at the park itself. With the stage now located on the much larger south end of the park there was ample room for the toothless to roam and sit and watch the show without having to trample someone’s precious bedspread compound. Paths were cardoned off with plastic snow fence, allowing anyone to walk unimpeded all the way to the soundboard only a few yards from the stage — another impossibility in past years. Everything just seemed bigger and better and… cleaner. Bravo to Bank of the West and whoever else was responsible for this year’s changes.

I didn’t get to the park until 8:30, well clear of .38 Special. Shortly after arrival at the standing area near the soundboard, Cheap Trick came prancing on stage and ripped into a set of every one of their radio oldies that I know. Intermixed was new material which fit in well with the old stuff — a testimony to the band’s continued creative output. Seeing as we will never hear this new stuff on the Z, I may actually have to run out and buy a copy if I want to hear any of it again.

Unlike some of the legacy bands playing at this year’s Red Sky Festival (Journey, 10,000 Maniacs), Cheap Trick has maintained its core structure of vocalist Robin Zander and guitarist/madman Rick Nielsen. Zander, wearing his usual Dream Police costume, sounded fantastic for a guy pushing 60. In fact, he managed to keep his voice pushing those high notes all the way through an encore of “Gonna Raise Hell,” a song that would tax even the youngest karaoke yodeler. All-in-all, a fantastic show by a band that helped define arena rock in the ’70s.

* * *

So the question is, how much will it hold?

I’m talking about Stinson Park in Aksarben Village where it was announced a week or so ago that this year’s Playing With Fire concert will be held July 16. The concert, featuring Sharon Jones and the Dapkings, was moved due to the flooding of Lewis and Clark Landing. Jeff Davis, PWF’s organizer, would like to see attendance exceed 7,000, which could very well happen. But will they all fit comfortably in Stinson?

Having never really explored the area before, after having a lunch at one of the eateries in Aksarben Village Saturday, I walked over to Stinson Park, which is just west of the main businesses and along the south side of Mercy Road to get a glimpse of the stage. It looks like a prime set-up, especially if Davis can get them to close Mercy Road and use that area for concessions and beer tents. How the additional  lights and PA equipment will fit on the hill should be interesting.

* * *

Tonight, of course, is The Black Keys at Stir Concert Cove. How will the Stir folks manage the parking problems that have arisen due to flooding? I’m told the bus/shuttles didn’t work so well at Mumford & Sons a few weeks ago. Hopefully they’ve figured it all out. Good luck to those of you who got tickets to this long sold out show. Opening is Cage the Elephant. Show starts at 8.

As for the rest of us, there’s always All Young Girls Are Machine Guns playing at O’Leaver’s tonight with 19 Action News and Moscow Mule. $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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There were those who were disappointed at the turnout for last night’s Grant Hart show at The Waiting Room, me among them. But the crowd of only around 40 wasn’t a huge surprise. There virtually was no press for the show, and Hart’s music — both solo and as a member of Husker Du and Nova Mob — has never had a home on local radio. In fact the number of those who remember Husker Du — and who still go out to shows — is getting smaller and smaller.

The night began with a solo set from Doug Kabourek performing as Fizzle Like A Flood, the name he used for a number of very cool records that came out in late ’90s and early ’00s. Kabourek has performed for the past couple years as At Land, but is revising the old name, presumably because his new music is in the dreamy, sore-hearted Fizzle style. Alone with his acoustic guitar, Kabourek played a split set — half the songs from his new record, the other half golden oldies. And just like that it felt like 1998 all over again, though Kabourek is a much better guitarist and singer than he used to be in the old days. His new songs have that classic Fizzle lilt and heart-on-sleeve appeal. With a high, soaring and sometimes nasal voice, Kabourek is setting himself up as Omaha’s version of John Darnielle a.k.a. The Mountain Goats. I have to wonder if, like on his classic Fizzle albums, he’ll use 20-some tracks to record these new songs. We’ll have to wait and see.

Next up was Bob Thornton’s Students of Crime, a gritty, twanging, punky rock band that was a good fit for a Husker Du night. This is the most straight-ahead band that Thornton has ever been a part of — short, poppy rock songs that lean heavy on the hooks and the band’s rock-solid rhythm section. Thornton has a good voice whether he knows it or not, spending too much time apologizing for it on stage. One of the set’s highlights was a new song just recorded for a 10-inch multi-band compilation being released in support of the Speed! Nebraska Adult Soapbox Derby July 23 at Seymour Smith Park and O’Leaver’s. I don’t know what it was called, but I do know it was about going fast.

Finally, onto an empty stage came Grant Hart with just an electric guitar, an amp and a microphone. I guess I expected a band to back him, I don’t know why. Instead, Hart stood on point and played a 45-minute (or so) set of songs that spanned his solo work, Nova Mob and flecked with Husker Du classics.

The mostly seated crowd stared mesmerized as Hart went from one song to the next without pause. A smattering of applause greeted him when he dived into Husker classic “No Promise I Have Made.” It wasn’t until the end of the set that he started opening up and talking to the audience about Iowa and medical marijuana and missing his cats.

I thought he might end his set and leave, but he was coaxed back on stage for en encore that started with “Flexible Flyer,” before taking requests. Someone yelled out “Diane,” but he said he doesn’t play that one anymore, that it was a bummer trip. Instead, someone yelled “The Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill,” and off he roared. Next, someone yelled “Evergreen Memorial Drive” and off he went again. Finally he ended the night with “My Regrets,” the closer from his most recent solo album Hot Wax.

Whether you knew his solo material or were just waiting for the next Husker song, you got the feeling that you were watching something special. Will there ever be a Husker Du reunion? Despite being an enormous payday for Hart, Mould and Norton, something tells me if it hasn’t happened already, it probably never will. That being the case, shows like last night’s and Bob Mould’s ongoing book reading acoustic tour (which I wish someone would bring to Omaha) are the closest thing we’ll ever get to hearing those classic Husker songs again.

* * *

If you’ve driven by 60th and Dodge in the past couple of days you’ve seen the enormous stage that has been erected for tonight’s Cheap Trick concert in Memorial Park. How the distraction won’t leave Dodge Street in absolute gridlock is beyond me. Luckily I don’t have to worry about it since I live walking distance to the park.

Remember that contest they held for a local band to open the show? Well, the winner was Take Me to Vegas, a band no one’s ever heard of. Nice job, Bank of the West. Oh well, it’s not entirely their fault. I was told by a couple bands who considered entering the contest that the legal stipulations attached to the show were far too much for what it was worth.

Anyway, the concert in the park kicks off at 6 with the winner, followed by .38 Special and finally Cheap Trick, who probably won’t get on stage until around 8:30, leading up to the after-show fireworks. Expect a mammoth crowd eruption during “Surrender.”

Another classic band, The Meat Puppets, also is playing tonight, this time at The Waiting Room. I saw them play a couple years ago at SXSW and was impressed with the sheer intensity of their set. You (probably) won’t be disappointed. Opening is The Whipkey Three. $14, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night promises to be another “memorable” show at O’Leaver’s. It’s a warmup for The Fucking Party, who are about to head out on tour. Joining them is Qing Jao (featuring Bob Thornton) and Yuppies. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Have a good 4th…

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Column 330: Wasted Youth: The Strange, Sad, Violent End of The Shanks

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’ve never seen the same band two nights in a row. Never needed to. What would be the point? But the plan always was to go to both nights of The Shanks’ farewell stand at O’Leaver’s this past weekend for the same reason people tune into the “farewell episode” of their favorite TV show: Just to see what happens.

And what happened is exactly what I expected.

I must be true in my reportage by saying that O’Leaver’s was less than packed both nights, despite the urine-drinking blood-soaked punk-rock exploits featured in the prior issue of The Reader. Maybe that was the truest testament as to why it’s time for the band to hang it up. No. What actually happened is the true testament.

Friday night’s openers, The Fucking Party and Mosquito Bandito, set the mood — heavy, sloppy, straight-out-of-the-garage guitars drenched in feedback, augmented with plenty of waling into over-amped microphones. It was noise as art as release. Mosquito Bandito, a solo guy who plays electric guitar and drums at the same time, was a rock ‘n’ roll freakshow that had guys standing around watching as if staring at a rare Pontiac GTO with the hood up.

The Shanks stumbled onto the filthy carpeted space that O’Leaver’s calls a stage a little past midnight. The smart ones who knew better stood behind the railing or along the bar, while a small crowd of 20 or so stood in front of the band within arm’s reach, close enough to throw beer cans at them as they tore into their set of fast, angry songs.

Ten minutes into the set, I headed to the can. When I came back, frontman Jeff Ankenbauer’s face had turned into a horror movie — a red trail trickled down between his eyes. He smeared it across his forehead and then lethargically stared at his hand, covered in his own blood. A bar regular explained: “You missed it, man, Jeff just busted a beer bottle with his face!” In fact, it had been a bottle of Rolling Rock that I’d just bought for Little Brazil bassist/New Lungs frontman Danny Maxwell. Ankenbauer had been calling over and over: “Someone give me a beer.” D-Max had poured the Rolling Rock into his mouth, then Ankenbauer took the bottle and smashed it on his own forehead. And the philistines roared.

As the night wore on, some guy that nobody knew shoved his way into the crowd, intent on starting a mosh pit that no one wanted. More shoving ensued, but it was harmless… for now.

The set was joyful punishment not only for Ankenbauer, who redefined himself as an amped zombie frontman, but for everyone on stage. Bass player Johnny Vrendenburg and guitarist Austin Ulmer looked like they’d been up for three days straight. Guitarist Todd VonStup had a look on his face that was a cross between devilish mischief and seething anger. It was just like old times, except for the finality of it all. The on-stage violence/groping was good-natured camaraderie, nothing less.

Then came Saturday night. Opening band Whyte Bitch (a.k.a. ex-Fag Cop from Lawrence) provided the pre-show sharpened angst. The Shanks came on to a half-empty room, with most of the crowd outside smoking. Before long, the fearless again packed the space in front of the stage, including Ankenbauer’s giant brother.

Crazy mosh-pit guy was back, doing the same shove-you-shove-me let’s-mosh shtick from the night before, pushing it too far and shoving Ankenbauer ass-over-teakettle into the drum set. Drums and cymbals fell like dominoes. It went downhill from there. Mosh-pit guy would eventually be fitted with a guitar to his face, about three feet from where I was standing. O’Leaver’s crack security personnel took it from there. Ankenbauer bellowed over the microphone, “That’s what happens when you fuck with us.” If you missed it, you can see it all on Vimeo.

by Andrew Lamberson on Vimeo.

After that, people kept a safer distance from the band. One girl who had gotten caught up in it dragged her boyfriend out, looking rather pissed. Someone should have warned her if you go to a Shanks show, there will be blood.

Unfortunately, what gets lost in all this is what always got lost at Shanks shows. Beneath the circus geek antics, there was a band on stage that never sounded better. By sticking Ankenbauer out front with a microphone and placing stickman Jeff Lambelet on drums, the band found its perfect line-up. Slop had been replaced with precision, or the closest thing this band has ever gotten to it on stage. For this one weekend, feedback howlers like four-chord anthem “Backstabber” and grisly murder ballad “Down By the River” emerged as well-crafted songs. Yes, songs. As strange as that sounds, the Shanks played music, dense with noise and energy, riffs and chords, rhythm and power. They played punk rock that seethed with the twisted life of those who wrote and performed it, who stood on the front line drunk or amped doing whatever they could to make contact with the crowd, with a smile or a fist.

If there’s tragedy in the short, sharp story of The Shanks it’s that the pain and the anger and the violence, the blood and urine, the almost constant fighting, overshadowed what the band was and could have been. So many people missed the best part of The Shanks, the music part.

* * *

As of a couple days ago, I’d never heard of Lincoln band Smith’s Cloud. Then out of the blue, the band’s lead singer, Evan Todd, sent me a download of the band’s debut recording, which is being celebrated tonight at Duffy’s (in Lincoln). Usually when I get a “cold call” from a band, the music is, uh, sub par. Not this time. Primarily folk rock, the songs have a depth that’s on par with the likes of Wilco and David Bazan and Eric Bachmann and Nick Drake. Gorgeous stuff that we need to see at a venue here in Omaha.

Not knowing who/what Smith’s Cloud is, I shot an e-mail back to Todd and got this reply:

“The album was recorded by myself, and Travis Bossard. There are a couple others who played on a few songs (Andy Butler, Mick Szydlowski) but for the most part it was Travis and I.

Here’s how it was recorded:

Travis played – Electric guitars, bass, synth, piano, background vocals, aux percussion.

I played – Acoustic guitars, drums, lead vocals, aux percussion

I used to be in a few bands as a drummer (Columbia vs Challenger, Butler and the Gentlemen), but this is my first full band record as a front man. Anyway, the drums were recorded at Coda record house in Lincoln, and the rest of it was recorded in Travis’ basement. It was mixed and mastered by Jed Vondracek. Travis and I recorded scratch tracks and experimented with the arrangements over the last 10 months or so. Then in April I went in and recorded drums. Since then we’ve been recording in Travis’ basement getting everything the way we want it.

But now it is a 5-piece band. The release show is tonight at Duffy’s. Those who will be playing are:

Travis – Electric guitar

Me – lead vox, acuostic/electric

Mike Janssen – Keys/synth

Mick Szydlowski – bass

Joe Heider – drums”

I suggest if you’re in Lincoln you check it out. Show starts at 9 and includes Manny Coon, Dear Herman, and Devil Television.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have to tell you, with all the news about the threat of ground-water flooding in downtown Omaha around the Qwest Center after heavy rains, I felt a bit of trepidation about going to last night’s show at Slowdown, what with a big-ass storm on the radar headed our way. Paranoid? Stupid? Yes and yes.

I got downtown at 10:30, just in time to see Titus Andronicus crowded up on the big stage  saying “Goodnight and thanks for coming” (which they did very well). Looking around the bar, it appeared as if Slowdown hadn’t done any cosmetic changes in preparation for the College World Series. That will come.

At the stroke of 11, out walked Okkervil River in front of a backdrop featuring two large wolf heads. Frontman Will Sheff, in a rather warm looking vest and suit jacket and disheveled hair, looked identical to the first time I saw him perform at The Junction in 2002 — a show that he acknowledged from stage, along with a past gig at California Taco. While they may look the same, the band’s sound has changed over the years, from a borderline alt-country-folk act in the Wilco vein to something more polished along the lines of Decemberists.

Maybe it seemed like the set got off to a rough start because I didn’t recognize the material, which probably came from their new album (which I haven’t heard). Unlike the more restrained, tuneful stuff they’re known for, the early portion of the set was dominated by epic anthems with rather unfocused melodies. Okkervil River is one of those bands where you’ll enjoy the music much more if you understand/know the words, which I couldn’t/didn’t.

It was shortly after performing “Red” from their 2002 album, and an awkward almost a capella number featuring just Sheff and his guitar, that things really began rolling, thanks to a thunderous version of “So Come Back, I Am Waiting,” from Black Sheep Boy. Things continued to pick up steam as Sheff and Co. pulled from the entire catalog. I’d forgotten how many good songs they’ve had over the years. While the songs sounded the same, the arrangements were different and better (driven by a terrific drummer) though at times Sheff seemed so off-kilter vocally, just swirling around the melodies, that it took awhile to recognize them. Some of his vocals sounded almost improvised, though still rooted to a central melody. But when it came to an audience favorite it didn’t matter because the crowd took over.

After about 75 minutes, Okkervil closed the set and then came back and finished strong with a two-song encore. It was a terrific show from a band that hasn’t forgotten Omaha as it has oh-so-slowly climbed the rock ‘n’ roll mountain. It was a fitting way for Slowdown to close out its last show before it turns into a virtual Nike Town over the next three weeks for CWS.

The club is closed for the next two nights to undergo its transformation. It reopens Friday with a Goo dance party after the CWS opening festivities, and through June 29 will feature mainly cover bands to support crowds of sports fans, none of whom have heard of Saddle Creek Records or listened to anything other than freedom rock.

Club owner Robb Nansel said Slowdown will boast a new projection screen on the main stage that is 133″ x 236″ so you’ll be able to enjoy all the baseball action from their air conditioned confines. There also will be more TVs throughout the club and outside in the beer garden (no idea if these are permanent or temporary additions, though I assume the latter), as well as food and vendor tents including food from Amsterdam Falafel, Worker’s Takeout, Blanc Burger, Chicago Dawg House and Tank Goodness cookies. Of course entry to Slowdown and its tent city will be free and open to the public. As I’ve said before, the only thing left for Slowdown to do is figure out where to stack all the money that’ll be flowing through their doors and tent flaps over the next few weeks. Perhaps they can build some sort of money-counting “safe room” like they have in casinos, maybe in The Slowdown’s secret basement. Actually, with all the ground water problems, that might not be the best place…

* * *

It’s punk night at The Waiting Room this evening with Kingston, PA, Sideonedummy band Title Fight headlining a bill that includes Touche Amore, Dead End Path and The Menzingers, a band that was featured in a video shot during the Love Drunk 2011 Tour (a video which you can view here). The show is $12 and starts early, at 6:30 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The problem with seeing Pinkerton this past Saturday night at The Waiting Room: I’ve had that “Buddy Holly” song stuck in my head all weekend. Pinkerton wasn’t so much a “Weezer tribute band” as a band that played Weezer songs. Fronted by Stephen Pedersen (Criteria) and including Clint Schnase (Cursive) on drums, the four-piece played stripped down, sweaty versions of songs off the first two Weezer albums — arguably the only two Weezer albums worth owning.

But along the way they took some liberties with some of the arrangements. As Pedersen said from stage, Weezer songs only have four chords so they had to do something to make things a little more interesting. That usually involved heavier arrangements of favorites like “Undone – The Sweater Song” and set closer “Tired of Sex.” So no, these weren’t note-for-note renditions of the classics (heck, there wasn’t even any keyboards, and yes, I missed them), but they did their job of getting the healthy-sized audience (100+) singing along, and with gusto.

One other footnote: Schnase is, indeed, back. No doubt he’ll be ready for his return to Cursive at MAHA in August.

* * *

Tonight, at The Waiting Room it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and EMA. I don’t know much about DEJJ, but I can tell you that EMA is a force to be reckoned with. EMA stands for Erika M. Anderson, a native of South Dakota, whose music is described as Drone Folk. On her debut, Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions) she puts it all out there lyrically in a way I haven’t heard since maybe Liz Phair’s Matador debut, all the while drenching each song with layers of guitar/keyboards/static/feedback/numbed pain. The centerpiece is “California,” an anti-ode to the Golden State, with lines like “You’re bleeding from the fingertips / You rubbed me raw, you rubbed me wrong” and “What does failure taste like? / To me it tastes like dirt / I’m begging you please to look away.

” Harsh. Hard. Fantastic. And worth the $10 all by herself. Show starts at 9.

* * *

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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Column 326: Live Review: Bright Eyes at Westfair Amphiteater, 6/4/11

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I begin what seems like my 100th review of a Bright Eyes concert by saying that last Saturday night’s performance at Westfair Amphitheater may have been their best.

Simple put, Conor Oberst put on a rock concert. Not an indie-folk show; not an “intimate acoustic evening of personal confessions.” A rock concert. As heavy a show as he’s probably capable of or would ever want to do. You can say you witnessed Bright Eyes at its peak, if you were there.

It’s a shame so few people were. It would be generous to say 500 were in the crowd by the time I arrived at Westfair at around 7:30. David Bazan a.k.a. Pedro the Lion was finishing a set of droll, dead-pan voiced indie rock songs; it was still light out when Jenny and Johnny hit the stage just after 8, playing what felt like the identical set played at their Waiting Room gig last September.

A few words about the Westfair Amphitheater, a concert venue that’s been around for years but that I’ve never stepped foot in mainly because its usual programming involves Monsters of Rock and/or River-sponsored goon fests. To my knowledge Westfair has never hosted an indie rock show. Hopefully that will change in the future.

The venue is a huge natural amphitheater, sort of like Memorial Park but with steeper slopes and a giant permanent cow palace-style stage. Fans can huddle on the concrete slab in front or set up camp on the grassy banks. Beer tents stood by the sound board and along the ridge where food tents shoveled out pizza and nachos.

No Smoking signs were posted along the perimeter fencing. Considerate smokers were herded to a tiny “smoking corral” at the top of the bowl, presumably away from the healthy people, while the rebels casually lit up throughout the compound, the blue-shirted security bulls casting a blind eye.

A VIP area fenced off with fluorescent orange netting stood along the steep bank off stage right. Inside, members of the Saddle Creek family and their families, friends and bandmates chatted and drank beers — gray-haired men mixed with skinny-jeaned hipsters greeting every visitor with deep hugs and smiles.

Jenny & Johnny, Westfair, 6/4/11

Killing the love buzz from stage was surly “Johnny” Rice, who bragged about “throttling” an investment banker during a Christmas family gathering. “And I only wish I could extend the same to the motherfuckers at Goldman Sachs and ING.” Please. Johnathan Rice is a lot of things, but he ain’t a tough guy.

Jenny and Johnny’s 45-minute set closed with a Rilo Kiley song, “Silver Lining,” that had little Jenny Lewis singing, “Hurray, hurray, I’m your silver lining / Hurray Hurray, but now I’m gold” as dusk set in.

It was almost dark when Bright Eyes finally arrived. The crowd, which had ballooned to what looked like a little over 1,000, erupted when the stage lights dropped and a recording came on of crazy Denny Brewer of Refried Icecream doing his now famous spaceship rant that leads into “Firewall,” the opening number on The People’s Key and among only five songs performed from Bright Eyes’ latest album.

On stage, Oberst and his band glowed pink and purple, their microphone stands lit with strings of LED lights. Behind two glowing umbrella-like stage shells was a large JumboTron that showed video close-ups of a guitar strumming or drums or keyboards or colorful abstract images.

Oberst was clearly in a good mood — a rarity back in the old Wide Awake days. Looking natural with guitar in hand, he put it down only for one keyboard tune and during “Approximate Sunlight,” a low-slung rock song passing as a hip-hop number that saw Oberst strutting around stage like the whitest MC in America, selling each lyric with hand gestures in classic Team Rigge fashion. Awkward. He leaned over the edge of the stage spitting out lines, touching outstretched hands.

Most of the set was a selection from albums past, including chestnuts “Falling Out of Love at This Volume,” and “A Celebration Upon Completion,” both from Bright Eyes’ debut A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997.

There were a few somber moments, but for the most part it was a heavy set driven by The Faint’s Clark Baechle, the best drummer Oberst has ever played with. The guitars were huge and loud. If it had been recorded, this could have been Oberst’s Live at Budokan.

Critics around the country are selling it as Bright Eyes’ farewell tour, and I’m still not sure why. Eyebrows were raised the first time Oberst mentioned he might retire the Bright Eyes moniker. I didn’t believe it; I didn’t care. Oberst is Bright Eyes. But I’ve seen his solo/Mystic Valley/Monsters of Folk outings. None of them had a tenth of the energy on stage Saturday night.

Bright Eyes will always be Oberst’s sweet spot for reasons I’m not entirely sure. Since Cassadaga, he has walked out on stage and stuck the landing every night. It helps that his Bright Eyes’ oeuvre blows away his other projects’ best songs. None of his solo output comes near BE classics like “Lover You Don’t Have to Love” or “Lua” or “Waste of Paint.” And despite being his weakest album since Digital Ash in a Digital Urn,The People’s Key is still better than any of his solo records.

After this endless tour finally ends, Conor Oberst may take a different guise, but we haven’t seen the last of Bright Eyes.

* * *

This one is on my radar simply because of the band’s name — Union Specific, whose catchphrase is “Building Americana.” Nice. The Austin band is playing tonight at Duffy’s in Lincoln with The Betties, Travelling Mercies and Manny Coon. Can’t seem to find a price for this one; starts at 9 p.m. According to the Union Specific website, they band is playing at Crane’s Coffee here in Omaha tomorrow, while hearnebraska.org has them playing at the Fort Cody Trading Post in North Platte tomorrow. I have no idea which one’s right, so buyer beware…

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Where’s the Bright Eyes review? It’ll be online and in print Thursday.

Now what about last night? The best thing you can say about any opening band’s performance — especially a band whose material you’ve never heard before — is that it made you want to seek out and acquire some of their recordings. That was the case for The Head and the Heart, who opened for Iron & Wine at a sold-out big room show at Slowdown last night.

I went in knowing next to nothing about the band and left wanting to hear more. At first blush, they seemed like your run-of-the-mill indie folk act complete with a neck-bearded frontman. But as their set rolled on, it was obvious that there was more to them. Big-hook melodies, gorgeous sing-along harmonies and dense instrumentation. Think of Okkervil River combined with Beach House and The Decemberists and you’re getting there. All the vocalists were good, but it’s the contrast of violinist/vocalist Charity Rose Thielen that added the real dimension. They closed with a song that ended with layered, multi-part harmonies. And the crowd went nuts. Where is it written that openers can’t do encores?

Looking all formal and Zack Galifianakis-like in his intimidating dark suit, Iron & Wine frontman Sam Beam took charge of a huge ensemble that included a small woodwind/brass section, turning the Slowdown into his own private lounge. The smoky opening number made me think of an indie-version of yacht rock, but Beam took it into more swampy territory for a set that pulled together old and new into something altogether different. With two women back-up singers, the harmonies at times reminded me of ’60s CSNY folk, while other songs found a groove that Beam and his band stretched out over for five or 10 minutes without getting boring. With his wry asides and clever smile, you can tell this guy doesn’t take it too seriously, and that relaxed nature made it all sound perfect. This could go down as a top-10 show for ’11.

* * *

According to One Percent, the Langhorne Slim show slated for tonight at TWR had been cancelled due to illnesses.

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.