Column 303: Stage Dive

The best shows of ’10

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Wrapping up the music year in review, here is my list of the best shows of the 100 or so that I attended in 2010. Yeah, I know there are a few missing (Where’s the Pixies? Where’s Justin Bieber?), but I can’t be at all of them. Help fill in the blanks by listing your favorites in the comment section of this story.

Jan. 22-23 — The Waiting Room re-grand opening. After gutting the interior and literally “raising the roof” (or at least the ceiling), the centerpiece Benson club celebrated with two nights of shows — a local gig featuring Little Brazil, Little Black Stereo, Ground Tyrants and Kyle Harvey, and a national show featuring afro-beat band NOMO. The verdict, Omaha had another world-class club to compete with Slowdown.

Jan. 29 — Haiti Relief Concert at Slowdown — What more could you ask for than Conor Oberst singing “Lua” backed by Nate Walcott on flugelhorn? The Bright Eyes reunion was one of the highlights of a sold-out show that benefitted the earthquake-torn country, that also included performances by Tilly and The Wall, It’s True, Simon Joyner, The Mynabirds, Bear Country, McCarthy Trenching and Brad Hoshaw.

March 15 — Digital Leather at O’Leaver’s — With a full beard, frontman Shawn Foree resembled an indie version of Jim Morrison circa Morrison Hotel. And with an extra keyboard player, he was free to get more involved on stage and with the crowd on such moving anthems as “Studs in Love.”

April 5 — Beach House at TWR — Visually, a boring show. Sonically, nothing less than amazing. Every note of their chamber pop echoed and glowed as they played all the songs from breakthrough album Teen Dream. Between numbers, they talked about Malcolm X, the Omaha Beef and 311, dedicating songs to each of them.

May 2 — So-So Sailors at Slowdown Jr. — I came to see Jeremy Messersmith, the crowd came to see The Mynabirds, but it was So-So Sailors that everyone was talking about after the show.

May 22 — Criteria at The Waiting Room — You couldn’t tell that this band hadn’t been on a stage in almost two years. Everything was tight, including Stephen Pedersen’s high-flyin’ vocals that still had that pop. They were having the time of their lives, and so was an audience that greeted old favorites with raised fists.

June 13 — The Mountain goats at Slowdown — Balladeer John Danielle did a Storytellers shtick, with bits about life on the road or what inspired the next rousing anthem or stirring ballad, delivered in the rapid-fire style of a well-seasoned stand-up comic.

June 28 — Deerhoof at TWR — As a live band, Deerhoof eclipsed their restrained, measured recordings with sheer ferocity, transforming from an art band into something that more closely resembled punk.

June 30 — It’s True at Slowdown Jr. –“This is our third to last show,” said inebriated frontman Adam Hawkins without giving an explanation. The performance had the charm of a drunken wake, with Hawkins taking double shots between songs. Despite proclaiming that he was “wasted,” he still put on one helluva show.

July 9 — Lincoln Invasion in Benson — Twenty bands from Lincoln decended on Benson for one night, but it was Mercy Rule that made the best argument for Star City’s superiority.

July 24 — MAHA Music festival — We all had a favorite performance. Some said Spoon, others Ben Kweller and The Faint. For me it was conquering heroes Superchunk playing for their first time in Nebraska.

July 31 — Concert for Equality in Benson — For one day, 2,000 people crowded the streets of Benson to celebrate freedom, or the lack of it. While host Conor Oberst shined with Bright Eyes, it was the reunion of his other band, Desaparacidos, along with Lullaby for the Working Class, that made the day historic.

Aug. 27 — Slowdown Block Party — With his stringy hair and big, crazy graying beard, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch looked like he just walked out of a survivalist compound. And though his Neil Young-meets-Kermit the Frog voice couldn’t hit the high notes, he could still shred on guitar like few others in the indie world.

Sept. 16 — Titus Andronicus at TWR — I wouldn’t say it was “epic” as much as an attempt at being epic. Every one of Titus’ tuneful anthem punk songs started small before exploding into pounding riffs, sing-along lyrics and the occasional Celtic-flavored melody.

Sept. 24 — Serena-Maneesh at TWR — Slowdive. Ride. My Bloody Valentine. I never saw any of them perform live on stage. And after this show, I get the feeling that Serena-Maneesh will be the closest I’ll ever get.

Oct. 22 — Bad Luck Charm at The 49’r — The headliner was BLC, but the real star was the bar itself, which was celebrating its second-to-last show before closing its doors forever.

Nov. 19 — Tim Kasher at TWR — Backed by a solid band, an unually reserved Kasher was all business, serenading the crush mob with solo ballads, Good Life covers and a tip o’ the hat to David Bowie.

Nov. 29 — Mark Mallman at TWR — Ever the professional showman, Mallman played as if he were in front of a sold out Carnegie Hall instead of a virtually empty room. He deserved better.

Were we saving the best for last? An early press date kept me from including the Dec. 23 reunion of Slowdown Virginia and Polecat, and the Dec. 29 return of Mousetrap to The Waiting Room. I guess I’ll just have to include them on next year’s list.

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Mousetrap at The Waiting Room, Dec. 29, 2010.

Actually, you needn’t wait for next year’s list. You already saw the Slowdown Virginia review. And last night was Mousetrap at The Waiting Room.

Before I get to the specifics, let me get this off my chest — There is something strangely timeless about Mousetrap’s music, and here’s what I’m talking about: No one — not back then in the ’90s and certainly not now — could channel rage quite the way these guys could and still do. It’s not a macho or tough-guy thing like today’s corporate metal goon-rock bands. Instead, it’s bitter and angry, but it’s anger channeled more toward themselves than whatever situation Patrick Buchanan and Craig Crawford are screaming about. Actually, it’s more about pain than anger — not a broken-hearted pain, but an exposed nerve physical throbbing abscessed tooth sort of agony. Bright red and pulsing.

Nothing sounds like Mousetrap today. Look at any of the 2010 top-10 album lists floating around the internet right now and ask yourself how many of those bands sound like they’ve ever been mad about anything. Arcade Fire, for example, channels regret and lost hope in mournful tones, as if they’ve come to accept the fact that we’ve all somehow been cheated. They’re martyrs. Mousetrap is on the opposite side. They’re not giving an inch. If you fuck with them, they’re going to let you know what they think of you at 300 dBs with spit flying from their mouths. And that is what makes their music strangely timeless. I can’t think of another band that has their ridged-back attitude. Mousetrap is that scrappy guy that no one fucked with in high school — not because he was the biggest or toughest in the crowd, but because everyone was afraid what he might do if you piss him off. Because if he snaps, there’s no stopping him. Mousetrap is that guy, that scary guy. You don’t want to get them started.

Last night they were in fine form, as good as they sounded last  year and better than I remember them back in the ’90s. They were always a great live band that spent every set teetering over the edge of the cliff. That sense of uncertainty is gone. They’re more focused; they know exactly what they want to do, and they do it. Their sound is as vicious and acidic as ever;  but Buchanan’s voice (as well as Crawford’s) is more controlled and certain. And after last night, I’m somewhat convinced that Mike Mazzola may be the best drummer they’ve worked with, giving the absent Scott Miller a run for his money. The crowd of 130 or so looked like they were paying homage to returning legends, which they were.

Buchanan ended the set saying, “See you next year,” but made the surprise annoucement that the band is considering recording a new album in 2011 — that is, if they can find a label to give them some cash. Somebody needs to step up, because it would be a shame if Mousetrap remained a once-a-year reunion gig. And we all could use a regular dose of anger in our musical diets. With the world the way it is, we certainly have a lot to be angry about.

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The reunions continue tonight at The Slowdown. The last time I saw Stolen Kisses was way back in January 2009 (reviewed here). The band split up shortly afterward when Chris Kramer moved to Chicago. Well, he’s back tonight for this Stolen Kisses reunion show that also includes performances by Darren Keen and the Fellowship of the Ring, and the debut of Our Hearts Are Stars, a new band that features members of Bear Country and Talking Mountain, among others. Show starts at 9 and is absolutely free.

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Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of the highly coveted Lazy-i Best of 2010 Sampler CD!  Just send me an e-mail (to tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and you’ll be dropped in the digital hat. Tracks include songs by Arcade Fire, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The National, Tim Kasher, Hot Chip, Sally Seltmann, Belle and Sebastian, Titus Andronicus, The Mynabirds, Zeus, The Black Keys, Pete Yorn and more. Full track listing is here. Enter today. Deadline is Jan. 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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Vintage Dundee homes behind newly erected chain-link fence. All will be demolished, along with the building that housed The 49'r, to make way for a CVS Pharmacy.

2010: The Year in Music

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we begin, a small eulogy for an old friend…

The first Compact Discs appeared in 1978, the same year that Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors was released and the first computer bulletin board system was created — a precursor to The Internet. The CD was the first music format that promised perfection — no wear, no tear, no skips, no pops, no turning over one side for the other. Instead of rewind there was “skip.” The discs themselves even looked high-tech and modern, with their shiny rainbow underside that you should never touch. It was exciting technology that few could afford. But within a few short years, even a college kid earning an hourly salary at Kmart could scratch together enough cash to buy a CD player.

Now just a little over three decades later, and CDs are going the way of the dinosaur.

They had a good run. Certainly better than the 8-track tape — a format introduced in the mid-1960s that was crushed when cassette tapes came into vogue in the early ’80s — but not as good as vinyl records, which have been around since before the turn of the last century, and are still limping along today.

There will be those who will say that it’s too early to write the obituary for the CD — including our friends at Homer’s, who have seen their worldwide chain of seven stores dwindle to two in 2009. They’re right. The CD will be around for a few more years. But the prognosis is most certainly terminal, and the proof is in what musicians have been telling me throughout the year. Whether it was a young solo artist at a local bar or a band that’s made millions over the course of a decade-long career — all said that no one’s buying CDs anymore. Bands no longer dream of a day when CD sales will be enough to support them. Those days are gone.

That doesn’t, however, mean that the music industry is dead. There are more musicians today than ever before, thanks to technology that killed the CD and that made it possible for any weekend musician with a laptop to become a record producer, for better or worse.

Moving forward, most musicians will have to depend on licensing deals (selling their music for TV commercials, movie soundtracks, bad television programs) and whatever cash they take home by performing live.

The age of the CD is done. Now comes the age of the Stage. It’s just like starting over…

Closer to home, 2010 will be remembered for its festivals, its reunions and its departures.

Superchunk at the MAHA Music Festival, 7/24/10.

* After a rocky launch in ’09, the MAHA Music Festival proved that Omaha can indeed pull off a true indie music event. The one-day concert, held on Lewis & Clark Landing, attracted first-tier bands like Spoon, Ben Kweller, Superchunk and local heroes The Faint, along with thousands of indie music fans. Can MAHA top it in 2011?

* Organized by Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst, The Concert for Equality was a day of performances built around a message about this country’s divisive integration laws that made headlines from Arizona to Fremont, Nebraska. Oberst, who had become a poster boy for the cause, got help from old friends Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Cursive as well as members of Desaparecidos and Lullaby for the Working Class, who played together for the first time in years.

* On a legislative front, local boozers no longer had to flee to Council Bluffs to get their late-night drunk on, as new laws raised bar closing times from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. in Nebraska. Meanwhile, Omaha bars felt the sting of a new entertainment tax that not only drove drink prices up, but may drive Mayor Suttle out of office.

* One of Omaha’s oldest venues for live music, The 49’r, closed its doors for good in October after a drawn out battle that pitted the Dundee neighborhood against CVS Pharmacy. In the end, everybody lost.

* Perhaps the biggest music news of the year came after the festival season was over. MECA, the people who run the Qwest Center and the new downtown TDAmeritrade ballpark, announced that it’s hosting the Red Sky Music Festival July 19-24. MECA will work with Live Nation to book 50 bands that will perform in and around the ballpark for what they hope will be a festival that rivals Milwaukee’s Summerfest.

Now, without further ado, here are my 10 favorite recordings of 2010, in no particular order (Note that I didn’t say “favorite CDs” — all 10 are in regular rotation… on my iPhone).

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs (Merge) — Mewing frontman Win Butler may be too smart for his own good — a sad, tortured realist, he’s stuck in a rut, dwelling on the past, on the future and on our current situation. And yet, his music on this, his band’s third album, is as inventive as anything on 2004′s Funeral.

Titus Andronicus, The Monitor (XL) — The New Jersey band expanded on its low-fi punk sound, adding new instruments (bagpipes, fiddle, trombone, cello) that elevated these epic, drunken, Celtic-flavored sing-along ballads to a level as grand as the album’s so-called Civil War theme.

It’s True, self-titled, self released — Adam Hawkins and company soared to new heights on personal songs of love, heartbreak and redemption. It’s a fitting elegy for a band that could have been a contender, could have been somebody.

Tim Kasher, The Game of Monogamy (Saddle Creek) — Closer to The Good Life than Cursive, the differentiator is the baroque strings, the upbeat brass, and the cool hand claps on “I Think I’m Gonna Die Here,” which would be a radio hit in any other universe. In the overall Kasher oeuvre, this is a minor, simple, but ultimately satisfying guilt trip.

The Black Keys, Brothers (Nonesuch) — Auerbach and Carney take their gritty blues sound, meld it with a dollop of psychedelia and smooth out the edges just enough to make this their most accessible — and enjoyable — long player since ’04’s Rubber Factory.

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, I Learned the Hard Way (Daptone) — It’s not so much a reinvention of the classic old-school R&B as an embrace of days past by a band and a singer that embody the best of ’60s soul.

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Brutalist Bricks (Matador) — There’s something simmering just below the surface of every one of this album’s 13 edgy, angry, catchy pop songs, as if a smiling Mr. Leo was about to stroll into a bank with a bomb beneath his overcoat.

Belle & Sebastian, Write About Love (Matador) — A return to form for a band that defined a style of chamber pop that’s been copied by every mopey scenester indie band in this country (and theirs).

LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening (Virgin) — The long-awaited follow-up to ’07’s Sound of Silver finds our hero James Murphy more concerned about writing embraceable pop songs than getting your feet moving, and that’s OK (I guess).

Pete Yorn, self-titled (Vagrant) — Everyone’s favorite indie crooner enlists the help of everyone’s favorite post-punk rocker (Black Francis of The Pixies) to pull his music out of a mire of heartbreak and into something leather-clad and angry. Who ever thought that Yorn knew how to rock?

Tomorrow: 2010 in Review Pt. 2 — the live shows.

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Lazy-i Best of 2010

While you’re contemplating the year that was 2010, enter to win a copy of the highly coveted Lazy-i Best of 2010 Sampler CD! I started putting together samplers in the mid-’90s as a way of sharing new music with friends and family who either don’t have the time or the resources to hear all the stuff that they keep off the radio. And now you can become part of that “inner circle.” Just send me an e-mail (to tim@lazy-i.com) with your name and mailing address and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free copy. Tracks include songs by Arcade Fire, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The National, Tim Kasher, Hot Chip, Sally Seltmann, Belle and Sebastian, Titus Andronicus, The Mynabirds, Zeus, The Black Keys, Pete Yorn and more. Full track listing is here. Enter today. Deadline is Jan. 18.

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A year of momentous, historic reunions ends tonight with the return of Mousetrap to an Omaha stage. Can they possibly top their 2009 reunion performance? We’ll just have to wait and see. Bone up on your Mousetrap knowledge with this ’09 profile and this 2010 update with frontman Patrick Buchanan. Opening tonight’s show at The Waiting Room are  fellow Golden Age of Omaha punk heroes Mercy Rule along with next-gen wonders Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and the amazing Stay Awake. $8, 9 p.m. See you there.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Slowdown Virginia at Slowdown, Dec. 23, 2010.

by TIm McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Time has been kind to these bands. There’s little question that, other than the fact that Slowdown Virginia frontman Tim Kasher can’t hit those insane, adolescent high notes any longer (no one over the age of 17 except a girl could) that the band (despite only having a few days together to practice this material) is obviously better than it was 15 years ago when they last played. And they should be. Kasher, bassist Matt Maginn and guitarist Stephen Pedersen went onto become Cursive (Pedersen’s Cursive career was short-lived, and he went on to form Criteria). The wild card was Casey Caniglia, who went onto become a restauranteer (at the Venice Inn steak house). But you couldn’t tell Casey hadn’t played drums on stage since the ’90s. Behind a kit that Neil Peart would be proud of, Caniglia literally and figuratively didn’t miss a beat. Neither did the rest of the band… except for those vocal nuances I mentioned earlier. I was talking with another musician before the gig and he also wondered if Kasher would be able to screech the dog-whistle notes in “Whipping Stick.” When the time came, Kasher came surprisingly close, dropping his voice down a few dBs to help the cause. It didn’t matter. It still sounded good. And no one in the sold-out crowd was keeping score anyway.

Polecat at Slowdown, Dec. 23, 2010.

The evening began with a reunion of Polecat — the trio of Ted Stevens, Boz Hicks and Oli Blaha. This time it was Blaha who was the odd man out (Stevens is in Cursive, and among Hicks’ bands are (were) Domestica and Her Flyaway Manner), and like Caniglia, he handled his instrument (bass) like a seasoned pro. If there was a gripe, it’s that there was too much bass in a mix that was overly muddy. Again, it didn’t matter, as the folks on hand were there to hear the old songs come to life once again, and they did. Of all the Saddle Creek legends, Stevens has the most forlorn voice of the bunch — there’s something lost and lonely about his vocals even when he’s rocking out. It’s that quality that would go on to make Lullaby for the Working Class so hauntingly good.  Adding to the thunderous ennui was a moody video projected behind the band that showed texturized, colorized moving images of people, buildings, things.

The mix was much cleaner for Slowdown Virginia, who came on a little after 11 and played for an hour. This material has aged well indeed, and during our interview, there was a recounting of interest by a certain local record label to remaster and rerelease the material. I also was told that it will never happen, though Maginn did uncover many of the original recordings during a recent dig through the band’s storage area. Those recordings could be made available again, but not necessarily to the general public. And it’s a shame, because there’s a lot of people who would love to hear all that old stuff and dream about what could have been.

The night closed with a two-song encore — a campy, kooky cover of “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” and the song that most of the crowd had been waiting all night to hear — the opening track on Dead Space, “Supernova 75.” Everyone  knew it was coming, and erupted from the opening bass line. It was the kind of moment that makes reunion shows so necessary, so important, and so good.

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I won’t be checking in for a couple days, so here’s hoping you have a safe and happy holiday.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Members of Conduits take Slowdown's holiday stage Dec. 17, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Friday night’s Christmas Throwdown multi-band mish-mash at The Slowdown was an evening of good-natured, sloppy X-mas fun. It was appropriate that hand-made clothing and other gift items were on display in the darkness, as most of the songs that night also sounded hand-made. Or maybe I just don’t get slacker/indie renditions of Christmas classics (and who else is getting sick of those Hyundai TV commercials with the uber indie-hipster couple (Youtube darlings Pomplamoose) recording toneless, zombie-like Christmas standards inside what looks like a POS Elantra?). While the crowd of 200-300 soaked in the love, the evening’s highlight was the Mynabirds’ set. Joined by members of Honeybee, Conduits and others, Laura Burhenn and her band performed her new single, “All I Want Is Truth (for Christmas)” a jaunty, cautionary message of political/environmental warnings in the face of apathy played off the opening riff of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” before going on its own merry way. You can buy the 7-inch online here (where you can also download it for free). Laura, her band and about a half-dozen women also did covers of Davies’ “Father Christmas” and Maria Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” that turned into an all-women battle for vocal dominance (Now there’s a cover tune I’d like to hear recorded).

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I wonder if we’re going to be treated to more indie Christmas covers tonight at The Waiting Room, when Saturn Moth takes the stage. The new four-piece, fronted by Collin Matz, tops a bill that includes The LymphNode Maniacs, The Benningtons, and The Dads. $5, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Con Dios at Slowdown Nov. 27, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There haven’t been any updates the last couple of days because I’ve been under the weather, but I’m back with some belated live reviews from last weekend. And tomorrow I post a massive 3,600-word interview with Mike and AJ Mogis that covers the brothers’ entire recording history, starting in North Platte up through ARC and into the future. It’s the cover story of this week’s issue of The Reader, which hits the stands today. It’s the annual music issue, which means it also includes the Top-20 (and next 15) bands list scientifically derived by the paper’s music team. And what a list it is. I’ll get into it more in the next couple of days. Needless to say, it was the toughest Top-20 (and next 15) list that any of us have put together.

Back to last weekend… I figured Saturday night’s show at The Slowdown would held be in the Jr. Room since the headliner was little-known (around here) national band The Berg Sans Nipple and a handful of locals, but in fact it was in the Big Room, which made for a nicer evening. And while it didn’t look packed, it didn’t look empty, either. There was a good crowd on hand, at least 100.

The biggest curiosity for me was opening act Con Dios. The local “super group” consists of a lot of familiar faces: Cursive’s Matt Maginn on bass, Dan McCarthy on keyboards, and Ladyfinger’s Pat Oakes on drums. But not so familiar was the guy filling the frontman singer/guitar slot, who I’d only seen wandering around stage before Bright Eyes gigs. It was BE production manager/guitar tech Phil Schaffart, a giant of a man who loomed over the rest of his tiny band like the bearded Brawny lumberjack. I don’t know if Schaffart has any previous performance experience, I assume he didn’t so I was pleasantly surprised by his smooth, rich voice and (not surprising) great acoustic guitar work. As a whole, it would be easy to discount the songs as falling under the same familiar alt-folk/Americana style of indie rock influenced by the likes of Neil Young, Jackson Brown and Wilco. What stood out was the players. It’s hard to beat a Maginn/Oakes rhythm section (on a lot of the songs, Maginn’s bass played the primary role). And then there’s McCarthy’s gorgeous, understated piano that makes any song seem comfortable and familiar. I have no idea what the future is for this band. With Bright Eyes heading out on the road for the next few years, one assumes Schaffart won’t have a lot of time for Con Dios, so catch them while you can.

Despite having seen them three times in the past few months, I never get tired of hearing Conduits, who followed Con Dios Saturday. This was their first time on Slowdown’s big stage, and they took full advantage of it by taking their deep, dark rock groove to a larger level. Bigger will always be better for these guys — you need to be overcome by the density of their throbbing sound. And no matter how thick they lay it on, frontwoman Jenna Morrison always cuts through the layers of sound. As I’ve said before, this a great band with some great songs. So who is going to step up and release their music? Sounds like a job for Saddle Creek (and I haven’t said that about a local band for a long, long time)…

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Mark Mallman at The Waiting Room, Nov. 29, 2010.

Though it wasn’t a big surprise, the turnout for Mark Mallman at The Waiting Room Sunday night was disappointing — at the most, 30? But just like the true showman that he is, Mallman brought the goods for one of the better performances I’ve seen this year. Backed by a drummer, pre-recorded samples and his keyboards, Mallman was a man possessed, climbing atop his keyboard rack from the first song on, turning his set into a two-man cabaret. His songs are stories and personal insights on a life lived in a spotlight that he’s created for himself with piano-driven rock reminiscent of Jim Steinman and Meatloaf, and could have just as much commercial appeal if he could only reach an audience outside of Minneapolis (where he’s a star) and the indie circuit. I’d love to one day see Mallman perform to a full house at TWR or Slowdown. It could happen. Opening for Mallman was The Whipkey Three with a new line-up — Black Squirrels’ Travis Sing replacing Sarah Benck on bass. TW3 continues to refine its sound, becoming less twangy and more poppy songwise, with the ever-flamboyant Whipkey bolstering his rep as the perennial showman (though I didn’t see him jump off the drum kit this time).

* * *

Yesterday’s big news was Saddle Creek Record’s announcement that Bright Eyes’ next record, The People’s Key, is slated for release by the label Feb. 15. You can read all the details right here. Only two BE concert dates are listed in the press release, but plans call for more than a year of touring for this album, according to BE member Mike Mogis. I’m sure the first tour details will be posted soon. Will Omaha get a sneak peek before the tour begins? Best keep your ear to the ground, as they say…

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Tonight at The Waiting Room is the CD release and listening party for Christmas for Pine Ridge, Vol. III Live at The Waiting Room. It’s your first chance to get a copy of the disc, which features Brad Thomson, Vago, Mariachi San Juan, Cass 50 & the Family Gram, Dustin Clayton, Kyle Harvey, Brad Hoshaw, All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, Josh Dunwoody, Korey Anderson, Filter Kings, Platte River Rain, Matt Cox Band, Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, and Son of 76 and the Hundred Miles. All proceeds from CD sales go to purchase more toys and to the heating fund for Pine Ridge. The fun starts at 7, and admission is free.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Tim Kasher at The Waiting Room, Nov. 19, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Friday night at The Waiting Room.

Conduits are poised to be a next-level success story, that is if someone is smart enough to sign them. But in this day and age, getting signed isn’t necessarily the most important thing that can happen to your band (but it certainly helps). Conduits has something just as good as a record deal — people are beginning to notice them. They’re being associated not only with Omaha but with Saddle Creek, thanks in part to Roger Lewis’ connection to The Good Life and Tim Kasher, who made a special guest appearance during their set for one song that was obviously a Kasher composition. It sounded nothing like the rest of their set, which continues to evolve into a series of epic masterpieces, tonal ambient journeys into dark yet familiar worlds decorated in ’90s shoe-gaze, low-hum dream-noise. It’s moody and effective, each song taking on a life of its own. It’s only a matter of time before the whole set bleeds together into one 45-minute epic soundscape.

I don’t think second-slot filler Darren Hanlon could have been a bigger contrast. The Aussie singer/songwriter performed a solo set that was a cross between Billy Bragg and John Wesley Harding — long story-songs played on guitar or banjo set atop a backdrop of crowd noise that came roaring from the back of the room, which was ballooning to well over 300. Hanlon’s songs were… cute. Late in the set they were propelled by guest drummer Craig D (Tilly and the Wall), who even provided an improvised drum solo.

Finally, it was Kasher’s turn. The biggest compliment I could give his set: At one point, I realized that I wasn’t paying attention to minuscule details, I wasn’t mentally taking notes, I became lost in the performance and the songs, which for me hasn’t happened in a long time. Kasher played most of the songs off his new album, The Game of Monogamy, punctuating each phrase with a knowing glance or gesture, trying to connect the music to the audience. The usual chatty Kasher said very little between songs, only once talking freely about the making of the album, saying that he was listening to a lot of David Bowie while up in Whitefish, all as an intro to a very Kasher-ian cover of Bowie’s “Soul Love.” The rest of the covers were Good Life chestnuts that seamlessly fit into the set. As you would expect, Kasher’s backing band was amazing. The standout was Lewis Patzner on cello — the best sounding (and mixed) cello I’ve heard on any live stage, it added a layer of drama that these songs yearned for. If Patzner’s name sounds familiar you might be thinking of his brother, Anton Patzner, who performed with Bright Eyes circa Cassadaga. Talent with strings obviously runs in the family.

Blue Bird at The Barley Street Tavern, Nov. 20, 2010.

Saturday night at The Barley Street Tavern.

Part of the fun of The Lepers’ set was watching the reaction from a crowd that probably had no idea what sort of music they were in for. These friends of Blue Bird certainly weren’t prepared for a two-man freak-out noise collage. I’ve seen Lepers more times than I care to remember, and this performance was right in line with all of them. Their music is tribal and borders on disturbing, an obvious progeny of Sonic Youth noise rock. For it to succeed, it can’t be confined to the Barley Street’s PA limitations — in other words, it needs to be loud, so loud that it generates confusion and fear, that it forces people to be trapped inside it, for better or worse.

I didn’t time it, but it seemed like it took a full half-hour for Blue Bird to get set up after Lepers, and for most of that time, the crowd (which continued to grow and grow to a staggering 40 or 50) were treated to Ben Sieff’s bass noodling along with assorted violin and clarinet tuning — I thought to myself, “Oh, so this is hell. I thought it would be so much warmer.” After 10 minutes of stage noise I was ready to pull my hair out, but it takes a long time to get eight people set up. That’s right, eight people — Blue Bird’s total inventory included two keyboards, guitar, drums, bass, two backup singers (one of them was Megan Morgan, who’s not a permanent member of the band) and that violin.

It’s an ambitious line-up that heralds back the days when Bright Eyes was towing a U-Haul filled with 16 musicians while touring his Wide Awake album. The days of huge ensembles are long gone in an era when bands don’t make any money and are looking for ways to cut costs. Except of course for Midwest Dilemma, and now Blue Bird. You have to hand it to frontwoman Marta Fiedler for finding a way to make it all work, though you have to wonder if a band that large could ever really afford to go on tour.

Was all that firepower necessary for Saturday night’s show? Probably not. What stood out most about Blue Bird was Fiedler’s pretty Midwestern voice that was accented by a slight country-western lilt. She indeed sounds like a Nebraska version of Jenny Lewis on songs derived from the indie-Americana template. You’ll be reminded of Lewis and She & Him and The Mynabirds and all the other women-led bands that seem to be making a mark on indie these days — especially locally, when was the last time we had so many women contributing so much musically? Fiedler has an advantage over a lot of them in how she writes songs — there was always something in the compositions that surprised me. Maybe it was just her own voice slipping through.

As a whole, the band did fine — they made it work. This was, after all, their first gig playing together in this ensemble (almost all are veterans of other bands). The set had a rough launch due to a Fiedler’s malfunctioning microphone that kept shorting out — I can’t imagine anything worse happening during an opening number. Fiedler responded like a real pro, singing through the technical difficulties as the sound guy brought her another mic. Despite the annoying pre-show noodling, Sieff played the role of godsend, placing a solid foundation for everyone to build upon, along with drummer Rob Mathews. It’s hard to judge the rest of the ensemble, especially considering The Barley Street’s obvious limitations (There’s so little space on its “stage” that it seemed like a couple members of the band were pushed right into the crowd). The violin was perfectly played, but unnecessary, along with the backing vocals, and it doesn’t get any better than Carrie Butler and Morgan. Ian Simons’ place is behind the keyboard, not the clarinet. Oh, he played it just fine, but I think there should be a law that says clarinets shouldn’t be allowed in rock bands. They tend to turn every song into a Bah Mitzvah. I’d like to hear what these guys sound like in a venue with a real sound system (Slowdown, The Waiting Room); and I’d love to hear these songs preformed as a trio.

Finally, Landing on the Moon closed out the evening at just before 1 and uncorked their usual fine set. Their centerpiece continues to be their anthem to the Omaha music scene, “California” — a dyed-in-the-wool crowd pleaser if ever there was one.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Azure Ray at The Slowdown, Nov. 3, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I fully intended to see Azure Ray last night at Slowdown. In fact, I even went down to Slowdown for the show, but unfortunately something came up and I had to leave shortly after taking the above photo during their first song. What very little I heard was, as you’d expect, lovely.

I was disappointed with the crowd size. Maybe 200? Maybe more. The balcony was closed and only about half the floor was filled. Slowdown never seemed so enormous. I guess Maria was right — maybe people don’t know that they’ve got a new album out, even though there were stories in all the usual print media.

I did get to see opener Tim Fite, which was an experience. Fite is a one-man performer who sang along with pre-recorded tracks and a video presentation, all the while doing everything he could to engage the audience (and doing a good job of it). His music is acoustic folk in sort of the Randy Newman vein (pretty stuff) blended with low-bass-beat hip-hop (which was just OK). There’s something about his style that recalls Devo/Talking Heads AV and the childish humor of Daniel Johnston. I haven’t met Fite, but I have to believe that he’s playing a character up there. No one could be that whimsical and fun in real life, but you never know.

* * *

Column 295 was a slight recasting of my review of Bad Luck Charm at The 49’r. You can read the original here. There’s no reason to repost it. However, if you want to see the changes (new lead, new ending) check it out on The Reader‘s website, here (or better yet, pick up a copy of the paper). How long until the wrecking ball makes its first appearance?

* * *

Big show tonight at O’Leaver’s. The headliner is Dapose, who is, of course, Dapose from the Faint rolling out songs from his new record, just released on blank.wav. Marijuana Death Squads is experimental electronics and percussion featuring dudes from Gayngs and Song of Zarathustra. Slapping Purses is, according to the show’s Facebook listing, “one-man beatstorm with suitcases full of electronics and a crazy microphone covered in switches. He opened for the Faint last time at First Ave.” $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also tonight, Wu Tang’s Ghostface Killah is at The Waiting Room with Sheek Louch, Frank Dukes, & Maxilla Blue. $25, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

InDreama at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 28, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I have to tell you, I love going to debut performances by local bands. A few weeks ago it was Beauty in the Beast

(Eli Mardock of Eagle Seagull fame’s new band). Last night it was InDreama, a new band fronted by Nik Fackler that includes an all-star cast, as described in yesterday’s blog. Fackler made it very clear before the set that this was, in fact, the first time the band had performed in front of a club audience. It showed. The set was only about 15 minutes long and focused only on four songs that shared the same psychedelic sonic palette. As you can see by the photo, Fackler was going for drama with his lighting — a projector off stage left that shot beams at a hatchet angle augmented with a couple floor strobes, all other stage lighting was turned off. Add billows of stage smoke and you’ve got a recipe for theatrics, and there were plenty.

Fackler and Co. opened with a couple acoustic songs that showed his knowledge of Bookends-era Simon and Garfunkel. Vocally, he sounded nothing like how he did in The Family Radio, instead his voice was deep and resonant and enhanced by effects and it all sounded actually very good, backed with harmonies from Sam Martin (Capgun Coup) and Dereck Higgins (Digital Sex). The lyrics were slight and simple and somewhat affected (I could imagine these songs sung in French).

The set went full-bore when Fackler switched to electric guitar and closed out the micro-set with “Exodus from Reunion, A + STORM > great = End” that turned into a psychedelic soundwash complete with dramatic deep-blue synth effects and rigid, pounding power chords that eventually pulled back with the now-ritualistic kneeling-down-and-fiddling-with-the-foot-pedals noise collage. Very dramatic, very promising, but all-in-all, very short. Missing were their poppier rock numbers that the band has on their iLike page, but then again, I’m not sure how they would have fit into the dark interlude that Fackler was trying to create. So yeah, a work in progress, a dream half-dreamed. But Fackler tells me there’s more to come when he’s back from El Lay and the InDreama CD is released in December, backed by a tour.

Next up were The Prairies, a local garage noise-band that I wasn’t in the mood for but that converted me to their punk rock sound by the end of their set. More than half of their success rides on their incredible drummer, who hits his drums harder than anyone I’ve seen on stage in a long while. Just amazing drumming that drove this hot rod right over the edge, pushed along by some tasty guitar solos.

No Joy at Slowdown Jr., Oct. 28, 2010.

In the third slot was Montreal band No Joy, a buzz-saw shoe-gaze band fronted by two shaggy-haired women with electric guitars and a love for righteous riffs. I was reminded of Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, Dinosaur Jr., and a bit of Throwing Muses. Each song was a pounding fuzz factory that chugged along at a hypnotic pace that made you wish they’d go on for 20 more minutes (even though most of the songs sounded pretty much the same). As described in yesterday’s Sentimentalist write-up, they closed out their set and began packing their gear while the amps were still buzzing, without saying a word to the crowd. I don’t know if that’s cool or insolent, and I doubt they care either way.

The crowd of about 50 or stuck around for Flowers Forever, whose sound continues to evolve from its original psych-rock to something that more closely resembles Talking Heads New Wave meets The B-52s with some deep-bass synth-dance beats thrown in to liven it all up. During their pogo-party moments, frontman Derek Pressnall turned into a Midwestern version of Fred Schneider, talk-echoing with the band’s cute blonde frontwoman whose rather demure singing has a dry air of Debbie Harry. Biggest surprise (of the night) was electric guitarist Nik Fackler providing some very interesting counters and leads that made it all work.

FF has been evolving into a psych-dance band for awhile now, and it seems close to the final stage. There’s no question that Pressnall enjoys leading the crowd on dance numbers more than anything else he’s doing on stage — leading the band as it repeatedly played two party-friendly songs over and over. He knows what his crowd wants and by-damn he’s going to give it to them. Things got weird toward the end when someone (Sam Martin?) threw a gigantic bag of popcorn into the crowd, which eventually became throwing material. More hi-jinx ensued, climaxing with an abrupt confrontation over a microphone stand that had made its way into the crowd. No one got hurt (at least while I was there).

* * *

I hate Halloween. I don’t mind giving candy to kids at the door, that’s fine, that’s what it should be. I’m not into the adult side of Halloween where everything turns into a costume party. And when Halloween’s on a Sunday, that means the costumes stretch over the entire weekend. That said, it would be kind of weird to see people dressed as pirates (or zombies) at Saturday’s Joan of Arc show at Slowdown Jr. though you can pretty much count on it. Also on the bill are Bear Country and Thunder Power. $10, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Some heart-felt sentiments for the new property owners, left outside on the north wall of The 49'r.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Let me tell you about the last time I saw a band at The 49’r.

“Hold on a minute,” said the guy who took my $5 at the door. “Let me stamp your hand. How am I supposed to remember who you are?”

When was the last time someone stamped my hand at the door? It’s all about wristbands now, but it seemed fitting that The 49’r was still using a tried-and-true stamp. Nothing ever changed at The Niner. The place looked exactly like it looked when I went there for all those years, for Street Urchins and Black Eyed Snakes and The Carsinogents and Carmine and The Sons of The 49’r and Son, Ambulance and Mal Madrigal and Two Gallants and Race for Titles and After Dark and Little Brazil and Zyklon Bees and The Philharmonic and Kite Pilot and Bombardment Society and The Stay Awake and Ladyfinger and The Monroes and Bangs and Owen and No Blood Orphan and The Movies and Mercy Rule and Statistics and every other band including Bad Luck Charm, who’d I’d seen there all those years ago and was about to see again. Nothing had changed. It was just as crowded as it ever was — nowhere to sit, nowhere to stand without being in someone’s way. What was the saying on the matchbook cover? “In the middle of everything and nowhere to park” (in fact, I’d parked five blocks away Friday night, just like always).

I reached into my pocked for my iPhone to take some pictures and realized that I’d forgotten it at home and damned myself for it. I never go anywhere without my phone these days. Of all nights to forget it, on this historic night. And then I thought, well, it’s serendipity. I never had a cell phone before when I went to the Niner. It’s only fitting that I didn’t have one tonight. I’d have to rely on my memory for the pictures, just like I always used to. The picture I saw Friday night was of a bar that, through its ups and downs, always held a special place in the Omaha music scene, even if its glory days were years and years ago.

Outside with the smokers I’d heard a similar story. One guy told me that the passing of the Niner felt to him just like when the Cog Factory closed years ago. He’d never gone to the Cog in its waning months and years, and so when its time came, he didn’t really care. He’d quit going to the Niner years earlier, too, and so its passing wouldn’t hurt that much.

But then he began to tell me about his favorite shows, and how much he liked playing there — moreso than being a member of the crowd. I’d heard the same story from every musician that played at the Niner — they all said it was one of the best rooms they’d ever played because there wasn’t a stage so much as a space in the back where the bands stood, with the drums a step up behind every one. There was nothing separating the bands from the crowd.

The set up was the same for BLC. Lee and Wolf, the dueling guitars, were up front, a part of the crowd, while bass and drums were in back. Everyone stumbled over cords that stretched out across the linoleum among a discarded set list and empty shot glasses. It was a mess, but it was a necessary mess. And it didn’t matter when the band started playing.

Mike Tulis years ago gave me the secret of seeing shows at The Niner. Don’t bother trying to find a place to stand along the bar or over by the fireplace with the Rudolf reindeer head. Walk right up to the front, right by the band, there’s always room up there, and if someone’s pissed that you’re standing in front of them, well it’s their own fault for sitting down when the band is playing.

It was another rough crowd Friday night. Of all the venues in town, The Niner drew the roughest — lots of aging punks in vintage T-shirts — the real shirts, not ironic replicas that you can pick up at Urban Outfitters. And lots of drunks. More drunks than at O’Leaver’s (if you can believe that). The 49’r is/was a drinking man’s bar. What’s that that Nick says in It’s a Wonderful Life? “We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don’t need any characters around to give the joint ‘atmosphere.

‘” Nick could have been talking about The Niner.

BLC sounded like they sounded the last time I saw them, probably five years ago. There’s something about their music that makes people feel tougher than they are. BLC is fighting music, a derivative of ’80s punk mixed with power-chord rock from an earlier time. But it’s authentic, it’s real and that’s why it’s so appealing. No one plays music like this anymore, and chances are no one ever will again. Except BLC, who inevitably will have another reunion show some day, but it won’t be at The Niner.

Frontman Lee Meyerpeter took off his stocking cap after the first song and rubbed his bald head, saying “I don’t need hair products anymore.” Lee’s message throughout the set between songs: “Let it go.” But he was talking about more than the bar, which we all knew would soon see its demise. He was talking about every piece of baggage and vanity and resentment and fear of getting old. Even though the music was hard and loud and angry, something felt like resolution in Lee’s voice, and I’ll be damned if I know why.

I left toward the end of the set, giving up my spot up front to the twisted crowd, as more and more people got off their feet and pushed toward the band, sort-of dancing, showing their appreciation with their bodies. As I went up those back stairs for the last time, the band played a cover of Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” and the crowd went nuts. I could hear them as I walked back to my car along 49th street, keeping my distance from a pair of stumbling bald drunks trying to find their way home.  And when I did get home I leaned over the sink with soap and water and scrubbed and scrubbed but I couldn’t get that damn ink stamp off my hand…

And that’s the last time I saw a band at The 49’r.

* * *

BTW, The 49’r posted that tomorrow night (Tuesday) is the last night that it’ll be open for business.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s the return of Dr. Dog. Opening the show is Luke Temple’s new band Here We Go Magic, which just released its Secretly Canadian debut, Pigeons. $16, 9 p.m.

And in case I don’t get around to an update tomorrow, here’s a reminder that Merge Records band Wye Oak is playing at Slowdown Jr. tomorrow night (Tuesday) with Honeybee. $8, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Conduits at The Waiting Room, Oct. 15, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 293: Where To Now?

The next Next Wave…

As 2010 begins to wind down a new crop of bands begins to rise up to carry on Omaha’s reputation as one of the country’s best music scenes.

There are some of you who, upon reading the above statement, quietly, sardonically, cynically laughed to yourselves, and thought (with a wry smile on your subconscious minds), “Best music scenes in the country? Tim, really. We haven’t heard that kind of talk in eight or nine years, and even then Omaha was only known by the tiny handful of music aficionados who give two shits about indie music.”

True, true. But even now, eight or nine or how many years later, when I interview a nationally known band that’s traipsing through Omaha on tour and ask (as I ask all of them) what they know about Omaha or Nebraska, they all say the same thing: “I’ve heard Nebraska has something special going on musicwise. Saddle Creek Records, right?” And so on. People remember. And the ones who knew — who were influenced by the city’s crown-jewel bands — still hold a flame for Omaha, whether or not that candle blew out years ago.

Will we ever relive those golden years when The New York Times

, SPIN and the BBC were fumbling over each other trying to figure out what was in the water that made Nebraska songwriters so special? I am here to say that, yes, it could happen again. In fact, it probably will. And when it does, it will start (again) with those same legacy acts — Cursive and Bright Eyes (look for new albums by both in the near future) and maybe even The Faint (even though they seem to have given up making new music, a pity) — who will reinvent themselves in this new decade as bands that still have something important (and catchy) to say.

But it can’t stop there; it has to continue with a new crop of Omaha and Lincoln bands. It was just a few years ago that hope came in the form of what I idiotically called Omaha’s “Next Wave,” most of which recorded for Slumber Party Records — Capgun Coup (now with Team Love Records), the amazing Bear Country, the brash, bratty Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship, cartoon kids Talking Mountain, Thunder Power, ultra-cute Honeybee, and hip-hop artist Conchance — all doing their own thing, creating their own sound but very much in the fashion of the Saddle Creek oeuvre.

Unfortunately, while those bands produced some fine recordings, they remained anonymous. Don’t blame their music; blame their schedules. What everyone forgets about the Creek bands was (and is) their bare-knuckle work ethic and willingness to get out of town and tour, even if they were only playing house parties and empty lounges. Sure, a few Slumber Party acts toured out of Omaha, but their roadwork was miniscule compared to, say, The Faint’s road marathons of yesteryear. A disappointment? Kind of, sure, when you consider what could have been, and what could still be.

Dim Light at The Waiting Room, Oct. 15, 2010.

So who are the next Next Wave bands? Two played last Friday night at The Waiting Room. First (and the one with the most promise) is Conduits. While so many local bands (including all those slumming for gigs in Benson) are enamored with dusty, countrified Americana, Conduits is trying to reinvent shoe-gaze. Consisting of J.J. Idt, guitar; Nate Mickish, guitar; Mike Overfield, bass, keys; Roger Lewis, drums, and frontwoman Jenna Morrison, their set was a slow-burn, droning methadone drip, a glowing haze cleanly cut by Morrison, who stands on the edge of the stage like a proud hood ornament in black-and-white striped sweater dress and heels. Morrison has come a long way since her days in Son, Ambulance where she was barely noticed standing in the background adding the occasional chirp. With Conduits, she has nowhere to hide; she’s a golden-haired chanteuse or a modern-day Nico, bending her notes through warm layers of guitar. Their music is mesmerizing, and when it goes on and on, ever building, it feels improvised and daring.

A lot of Saddle Creek people were in the audience, there to support Old Canes on the launch date of their latest tour. Playing as a five-piece, Chris Crisci’s runaway chuck wagon music was filled out by trumpets, glockenspiel, melodica and plenty of acoustic guitar. With Old Canes, Saddle Creek has looked toward Lawrence, Kansas, for hope; but maybe it’s time they look again toward their hometown.

Appropriately, the lights came down for Dim Light, a band that’s been evolving for years, but at its core has always been frontman/guitarist/caricature Cooper Moon, one of the most recognizable members of the Omaha music scene.

Dim Light’s music is the soundtrack to a David Lynch Blue Velvet nightmare. Not midnight — more like 3 a.m. music, a time when nothing good ever happens. Cooper can sound like bluesy Jim Morrison if he wants to, but his voice feels more like an angry-drunk strut over his rockabilly spy guitar, staggering forward but held up in that drunken sailor-Jesus pose by Tom Barrett’s slutty bass lines and Boz Hicks’ subtle stick work. It’s pure theatre that leaves nothing to the imagination when Cooper belts out weird lines about things burning in your veins.

Conduits and Dim Light — that’s just two. There are more. I’ll be bringing them to your attention over the coming weeks and months. I want the scoop before the Times or SPIN or BBC comes in and steals my thunder… again.

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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 © 2010 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.