by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Petfest has the honor of being Omaha’s most-eclectic one-day festival, featuring mostly local indie acts and singer/songwriters. Held on the red-carpeted loose-rock parking lot behind Petshop Gallery in the heart of Benson, this year’s festival, slated for Aug. 17, will be no exception.

Unless my eyes deceive me (very possible) this year’s line-up is almost all Nebraska acts, though there are a couple names I don’t recognize. The 21-act list as of this morning:

• – Problems
• – Dance Me Pregnant 
• – Ebba Rose
• – Jeff in Leather 
• – Flamboyant Gods
• – Size Queen
• – Western Haikus
• – Heet Deth
• – McCarthy Trenching
• – Mesonjixx Trio
• – The Dirts
• – Clubdrugs 
• – Saving Fiona
• – Riké
• – Universe Contest
• – Queer Nite
• – Bumpadump
• – Mike Schlesinger
• – Vempire 
• – Ex-Lover 
• – Ol’ Mo and the Varmits

A few highlights: Dance Me Pregnant is a golden nugget from a bygone era of Omaha indie/punk; Vempire is a newish Lincoln project featuring Mike Elfers from Thirst Things First; The Dirts are an emerging showgaze/indie act that has been a regular opener at Reverb indie shows; Mike Schlesinger is perhaps the most overlooked talent in the state, who I’m told has been working on a new album. And Darren Keen will be making the trip from Chicago to provide a return performance as PROBLEMS. 

The performance schedule hasn’t been released yet but the show will run from 2 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $30 Adv/$40 DOS. More info at the BFF FB page. See you there.

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Speaking of festivals, late last month an organization called “Hook n Sync” announced a three-day, three-district music festival taking place this year during the heart of the College World Series weeks, June 13-15.

Called “One Omaha Music Festival,” it’s brought to you by the Hook N Sync Foundation, a non-profit “focused towards creating an extended support platform and performance exposure for local singer songwriters and musicians across the mid west community with a special side focus on uplifting gender equity in creative fields.” 

According to their website, last year “Hook n Sync already had 6 different diverse outdoor festivals including some 2 Day 2 stage ones with multiple National Artists, Grammy Winners, regional and other touring bands and many local artists.” Impressive. The organization’s executive director isn’t listed on their website or on their FB page. Considering the CWS connection, is MECA also involved, or the NCAA? 

Hook n Sync has alredy published a district schedule (Old Market, June 13; Benson & Midtown, June 14; Benson June 15) but no venue names are listed, though they say it’ll take place on “up to 20 stages” and will feature “up to 100 bands” who they appear to be in the process of booking. Hook n Sync posted a couple requests on their Facebook page last week. One asked for your ideas as to who they should book; the other is seeing out local “female influenced music” in Omaha and the surrounding area. 

According to their FB posts this NEVER DONE BEFORE event is a HUGE STEP FOR OMAHA MUSIC. This no doubt is a tremendous undertaking for someone. Just pulling off a one-day music festival like Petfest that focuses primarily on local bands is a major effort that involves lots of planning and coordination. One Omaha is three districts over three days with 20 venues and more than 100 bands during two of the most chaotic weeks in Omaha.

More info as it becomes available…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s the first Friday of April and that means Benson First Friday (#BFF). If you’ve driven down Maple Street over the past few days you already know the entire length of Downtown Benson is coned for road construction. The city is replacing the old metal curb ramps with new ramps, and decided to do it during the district’s busiest day of the month both for car and foot traffic. Coincidence? 

Anyway, the parking situation is essentially the same, just drive around the cones and construction equipment. 

ADDENDUM: The city has cleared the cones! Proceed with confidence…

BFF highlights local artists in galleries and other businesses up and down Maple Street tonight. Among them is the opening at Ming Toy Gallery, 6066 Maple Street, with feature artist Karen Linder. Drop by, say hi, grab a beer/wine and check it out. The opening runs from 6 to 9 p.m. See you there.

As part of BFF, The Sydney in Benson is hosting Pasadena duo System Exclusive along with Madison Wisconsin electronic artist Carrellee and Omaha’s Jeff in Leather and Specter Poetics. $12, 9 p.m. 

Saturday is noise rock day in Benson.

Starting in the afternoon (3 p.m.) and running into Saturday night is ClüsterFüst 2, a metal/noise concert at The Waiting Room with 15 bands, headlined by local heroes BIB and including acts Ex Lover, Cult Play, Prolapse (Dave Goldberg metal odyssey) and Nowhere, among others. “15 bands playing 15-minute sets.” All for $15, with proceeds going to Youth Emergency Services Omaha. More info and full lineup, here.  

Also Saturday night, Omaha double-bass noise-core band Violenteer headlines a four-band bill at Reverb Lounge. Word on the street is Violenteer has a new album coming out soon, with recorded tracks already in the can. Maybe we’ll get some of the new stuff Saturday. Joining them are Leafblower, Radical Sabbatical and Aircraft Grade. This show is sort of being held in conjunction with ClüsterFüst 2 in that entrance is only $5 with a Waiting Room wristband – smart marketing! Otherwise, entrance is $10. Starts at 8:30.

Also Saturday night, there’s a three-band bill at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Jar, Box Eats Miah and Pretty Beige. Box Eats Miah is sort of emo-ish? Not sure on the others. This one starts at 9 and is absolutely free. 

Sunday night Tommy Prine headlines at Reverb Lounge, and yes, he is the son of legendary singer/songwriter John Prine. They call his music “alt country,” but it leans more toward the Americana spectrum (though there’s plenty of twang on his latest LP, This Far South (Thirty Tigers)). In fact, if you squint your eyes it sometimes sounds like Mystic Valley Band music. Opening for Prine is Kiely Connell. $22, 8 p.m., and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it sells out the smallish Reverb. 

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

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Blanky at Reverb Lounge, April 3, 2024.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Dirts have been playing out for at least a couple years and I still don’t know who’s in this band. Other than an Instagram page, there virtually was nothing I could find out about this intense 5-piece act that consists of four women and one of the guys who also plays in Garst (who we’ll get to later).

Last night’s set at Reverb Lounge was the second time round seeing them and they’re becoming one of my favorite new Nebraska bands thanks to their dense, atmospheric style of shoegaze. In addition to singing well (his voice kind of reminded me of the guy in Pardoner), he did a nice job balancing songs with his relaxed guitar solos. The band’s two women vocalists could barely be heard above the roar, though what I could hear sounded good. Their lack of presence in the mix was likely more due to the fact they didn’t appear to be singing very loudly or very close to their microphones. 

To my knowledge, there are no recordings of The Dirts on the internet or streaming services, and since I don’t know who’s in the band, I don’t know who to ask. I guess I could have asked one of them while I was in the club, but I’ve startled more than my share of young musicians over the years (it’s the cop thing) and was in no mood to do so last night. Short set! Done by 8:30.

Virga at Reverb Lounge, April 3, 2024.

Maybe the women of The Dirts could take a clue from Faith Maddox of Virga, who played next. Fronting a fourpiece with guitar in hand, Maddox’s gorgeous, lonesome voice was a perfect match for Virga’s two chord verses, minor-key, heavy, and at times dirgy downer rock that had a way of exploding before the end of each song. Later, Virga rolled out a few very ’90s-style post-grunge songs reminscent of Lawrence bands from back in the day. 

Maddox said last night was the first stop on their tour, which will take them to Chicago tonight, and was very appreciative of the crowd response. The band closed out with another uptempo number but then, in the end, reverted back to its downer-core as if to say “This is who we really are.” 

As they cleared their gear from the stage, I thought, “For the love of god, please let Blanky play next.” I didn’t want them to get Omaha’d by Garst. 

Thankfully, Blanky did go on next. The trio played in a more upbeat style than what’s heard on their Blood Harmony album, and likely is a sign of where their sound is headed. Frontman Anthony Cunard was the showpiece, a fantastic guitarist who played in an echoing, slow-pulse surf style a la early Pixies or Breeders and sometimes sounded like Jon Spencer on Valium. They had an intensely cool sound and Cunard’s solos were eye-popping. . 

Then came Garst a little after 10:30. These guys are, indeed, ferociously good at what they do, which is play ’80s-style riff rock at a breakneck pace. All four dudes are super talented and mega-tight shredding fast, intricate riffs like a ’70s prog band with fun-loving ’80s hair metal charm. The frontman/guitarist began the set sporting a sort of affected growl that thankfully faded halfway through. I recognized Cat Piss/Pagan Athletes drummer Nate Wolf behind the drum kit, who I assumed was a new addition as the frontman went out of his way to introduce him early in the set. Wolf is one of the city’s brightest new talents. 

While not a style of music I listen to often anymore (Hey, I grew up on bands like Fastway and Van Halen) these guys were impressive, jumping from one riff-fueled groove to another. You could argue Garst was an odd way to end a night of touring indie rock bands (and one great local shoegaze opener), but they also helped bring a crowd. Garst’s fans – many of them young ladies — patiently waited in the back during the early sets, but once their dudes came on stage were went right up front dancing. 

Funniest moment of the Garst set was between songs when the frontman said (and I’m paraphrasing): “There’s a lot of slow core coming out of Lawrence these days. I’ve got a question: Are you guys OK?”

To which one of the Blanky guys sitting next to me at the bar responded by yelling, “No, we’re not.”

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lawrence band Blanky plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Two Lawrence, Kansas, bands make the long trip up I-29 today to play at Reverb Lounge tonight.

Blanky has been described as an “alt-country shoegaze” band. Alt-country? Um, nah. Shoegaze? Maybe. Languid, distorted, feedback-fueled, drunken, surf-guitar songs that feel like a morning-after hangover? Sure, especially on their latest album, 2022’s Blood Harmony. 

Blanky frontman Anthony Cunard has a deep, dry, low voice that sings sordid tales of cautionary love with lines like, “You fell to your death in your baby’s arms / I guess that’s one way to get away,” that sound like a distorted funeral procession… but in a good way. Cinematic murder films shot in black-and-white. 

Very likely driving to Omaha in the same van as Blanky is Virga, who according to The Pitch, classify themselves as “gothic Americana,” which for me sort of misses the mark. Their sound is reminiscent of ‘90s acts like Madder Rose, Lisa Germano, Cowboy Junkies and Kristen Hersh. Stark, slow, indie rock songs that build over their four-minute lifespans, guided by frontwoman Faith Maddox’s gorgeous voice that recalls Margo Timmins. 

T’was a time in the early ‘90s when LinOma and Lawrence swapped bands on a regular basis, almost as if the two regions were part of one post-punk alt-indie scene. Maybe we should get back to that?

Like all the best shows, tonight’s is a study in contrasts considering the Omaha bands that are also on the bill. Garst plays a more straight-forward, riff-fueled indie that borders on alt-rock. The Dirts includes a member of Garst, but the band, who I saw open for Hotline TNT, is something completely different. You’ll see. 

Four acts on a Wednesday? It’s going to be a long night. Bands take the Reverb stage at 8 p.m. — and please be prompt! Those Lawrence folks have a long way to drive back home. $12.  

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

John Vanderslice performs April 5 at a Dundee house show.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The last time I saw John Vanderslice perform was back in October 2005 at Sokol Underground when he was touring with Matador Records experimental noise artist The Double. I don’t know whatever happened to The Double. Vanderslice, on the other hand, is playing an Undertow concert this Friday somewhere in Dundee.

Vanderslice came in hot back in 2001 with Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, released on then super-hot indie label, Barsuk Records. It would be followed by about an album a year, peaking with career highlights Cellar Door (2004, Barsuk) and Pixel Revolt (2005, Barsuk). 

In 2009, Vanderslice switched labels and began releasing albums on red-hot indie Dead Oceans, and these days he’s releasing albums on his own Tiny Telephones label, including last year’s CRYSTALS 3.0. 

In fact, Vanderslice might be more well-known as owner/operator of Tiny Telephone, a studio in the Mission District of San Francisco that recorded a plethora of indie giants including Death Cab for Cutie, Sleater-Kinney, Deerhoof, Moutain Goats and Spoon — artists whose albums many of which Vanderslice contributed to. That studio closed during in 2020, according to Wiki, though a second Tiny Telephone studio still operates in Oakland and is run by Vanderslice.

He’s one of those guys who has always had has finger on the pulse of indie music and is credited with bringing a number of today’s indie heroes on the road with him, including Sufjan Stevens and St. Vincent.  And now you have a chance to see him play in someone’s living room in what can only be described as “an intimate solo performance.”

The location of Undertow shows are kept secret except for their zip code, which is why I know this one is taking place in Dundee. You’ll get the actual address after you buy a ticket, which is $25 and available here at the Undertow website. Don’t worry, I can pretty much tell you the house where this is happening is amazing (though I’ve never been there); the owner has hosted many Undertow shows. 

Give it a shot. This guy really is an indie legend. 

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Tonight, instrumental trio Los Angeles League of Musicians (LA LOM) plays at Slowdown Jr. Their style is Cumbia Sonidera, ’60s soul ballads and classic romantic boleros. Pretty cool stuff. DJ C-Record opens the show at 8 p.m. $25.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Well I did call them “totally wrong guesses” in yesterday’s blog, didn’t I?…

About four hours after I posted my totally wrong guesses yesterday I received the embargoed line-up announcement for the two-day 2024 Outlandia Festival, Aug. 9-10. Only two bands mentioned in the blog are in the line-up. 

Among them, the Flaming Lips, who will headline the first night. As mentioned, the band just played at Steelhouse Omaha last summer. That show wasn’t a sellout; in fact Steelhouse offered BOGO tickets leading up to the date. Despite that, the Lips are known for their pageantry and outrageous well-staged special effects, confetti, that sort of thing, moreso than their music, which is a shame because their pre-Yoshimi albums are prog-rock gems. Expect grand spectacle.

The Saturday night headliners are The Head and the Heart and The Revivalists – a band I’d not heard of prior to this announcement. Head and the Heart just played Pinewood Amphitheater seven months ago with Father John Misty. They have a huge fanbase for a style of music that can only be described as Adult Contemporary. The Revivalists is an 8-piece “collective” that describes its sound as “soulful.” Their mega-hit, “Wish I Knew You,” — a song destined to be heard the next time you’re shopping at your neighborhood Baker’s — topped the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart. Fun fact: Revivalists used to be on Wind-up Records, the original home of the band Commander Venus (but that’s another story); now they’re on Concord Records. Hmmm. 

Here’s the remainder of the line-up for this year’s festival: 

Friday, with The Flaming Lips: 

Men I Trust – Yet another band I hadn’t heard prior to this announcement. Led by singer/songwriter Emma Proulx, the Canadian trio’s last studio album, Untourable Album, was self-released in 2021 — warm, shimmery, electro-indie-pop that reminds me of Khruangbin, which makes sense since they released a split live album with Khruangbin last year.  

The Faint – Our hometown heroes are back. Next month, they celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the release of Doom Abuse, and the 20th anniversary of Wet From Birth. If you’re thinking ‘Hey, didn’t they play Outlandia last year?’ you’d be right. And I bet that performance is what got them asked back for an encore this year.

Aussie band Vacations has been kicking around since 2010 but only recently broke through in the states with “Next Exit,” a song they’ve been playing the shit out of on Sirius XMU. Veterans of Nettwerk Records, their latest, No Place Like Home, was released on No Fun Records this past January. I’m beginning to see a trend with all this adult contempary-style indie pop. 

Real Estate – They played the inaugural Outlandia Festival in 2022 and their latest album, Daniel (2024, Domino Records), is an early favorite of mine so far this year – sweet, laid-back indie rock. A band that frankly used to bore the shit out of me, their sound has really grown over the past couple years. 

In the local band spot opening the day is Twinsmith, who released a couple albums on Saddle Creek Records, including 2017’s Stay Cool. 

Saturday with The Head and the Heart and The Revivalists:

Dinosaur Jr. J Mascis and company are ‘90s rock royalty whose albums Green Mind (1991, SST), Where You Been (1993, SST), and Without a Sound (1994, Blanco y Negro/Sire), were part of every young college dude’s CD collection. I’ll be curious to see who’s playing with Mascis in this interation of D Jr.

Flipturn – If you’re thinking, “Hey, didn’t Flipturn just play at The Slowdown a couple weeks ago?” you would again be right. I hadn’t heard of them before that show. Again, easy-going indie-pop, this time influenced in part by Vampire Weekend. After listening to some tracks, I kind of wish I’d seen them down at Slowdown earlier this month; now I’ll have another chance.

Buffalo Tom — I didn’t know this classic ‘90s college rock band was even still together. Back-to-back albums Let Me Come Over (1992) and Red Letter Day (1993) were impossible to miss at the time of their release. Their sound encampsulated early post-grunge college music and Let Me Come Over was one of the first records I reviewed for The Note, a music magazine based out of Lawrence where I did my first tour of duty as a music critic. The band just released a new single earlier this month, “New Girl Singing,” and their last proper studio album was 2018’s Quiet and Peace. No doubt this band alone will draw a share of Gen X-aged college music fans.

DeVotchKa – The rousing gypsy folk-rock act has played The Slowdown a number of times over the years. Their last studio album was 2018’s This Night Falls Forever, released on Concord Records (the same label as The Revivalists). Lots of local fans and a rep for putting on a good show.

Kelsey Waldon – Here’s another new one on me. Country music. Waldon is on John Prine’s Oh Boy label. 

The Eye has the honor of being the local band that opens Saturday’s festivities. Fronted by Tyler Owen, one of the folks behind the Outlandia Festival, they play at The Waiting Room every six months or so. I’ve yet to see them, but have heard their cover of New Order’s “Leave Me Alone.”

Overall, this line-up feels more like adult contemporary than indie, though Saturday has a couple Gen X-era aces up its sleeve with D. Jr. and Buffalo Tom. Look, these folks know what they’re doing and this line-up is consistent with what they’ve done the past couple years. For me, the highlights are Buffalo Tom, Real Estate, Vacations, The Faint and D. Jr.

Single-day General Admission tickets are $99 while weekend GA tix are $179 (plus fees, etc.). This year in addition to their VIP tix ($269 single; $469 weekend), Outlandia is offering Ultra VIP tix that include a “merch pack” and a camping pass along with “other surprises” that include exclusive campground performances by as-yet-to-be-named artists. Outlandia says it also revamped its parking layout “to ease the flow of traffic in and out of the park.” VIP/Ultra VIP tix will get direct access from the lot to the VIP area. GA parking will be free again this year. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today at outlandiafestival.com.

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Tonight, Pasadena-based two-piece synth-heavy outfit System Exclusive plays at The Sydney in Benson with Carrellee, Jeff in Leather and Specter Poetics. This four-band bill doesn’t start until 9 p.m. so it’s gonna be long night for someone. $12.

That’s I have for this weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a great weekend!

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The 2024 Outlandia Festival line-up will be announced late this afternoon. You won’t be able to miss it if you follow Outlandia on Facebook or, for that matter, if you use Facebook at all and are a music fan. A couple days ago, I asked folks on Facebook to make a guess, and got a few takers.

Among them, someone suggested The War on Drugs as a possible headliner. That would, indeed, be a huge “get” for Outlandia and right down the middle of an Outlandia “taste zone” that includes former headliners like The National and Lord Huron. And I love me some War on Drugs. That said, the band will be on the road doing an arena and stadium tour (they’re playing United Center in Chicago) as well as playing large festivals. Is WODs within Outlandia’s budget? I’m skeptical but hopeful.

Others had suggested The Flaming Lips will be a headliner – another good guess, especially considering Outlandia posted on Facebook that this year “is going to be flame.” However, The Flaming Lips just played at Steelhouse Omaha last summer. Would Outlandia really book a band that played here so recently? 

So my guesses, in no particular order, are based on past Outlandia headliners, which have included Modest Mouse, Lord Huron, The National and, of course, Wilco. 

First on the list: An unnamed headliner whose music I’ve never listened to. Lord Huron fell into that category last year, and couldn’t have been a bigger surprise to me. Turns out the band has a mega-hit that flew under my radar that a bunch of folks from my old office loved. Could this happen again this year with a different band? Bet on it.

2. Father John Misty – I think he also was just here last year (at The Admiral?), but again, he’s right in the Outlandia taste zone. 
3. Future Islands – They’ve played Omaha a number of times in the past, including at The Waiting Room (and if my memory serves, once even played Lincoln Calling back in the day). They have a new album, are on the road, and have been avoiding Omaha the last few years. Would be a great get.
4. Spoon – Again, right down the middle. Plus, they’re very familiar with Omaha (They even have an early single that was released on Saddle Creek Records). They’re scheduled to play a handful of U.S. shows this fall.
5. Of Montreal – Brand a new album out in May, has a massive summer tour booked and has played Omaha a zillion times. 
6. Decemberists – They also has a new album coming out June 14 and will be on a massive U.S. tour this summer.

Alternative guesses – Cold War Kids (They have a new album out and are playing fests); Sparta (because wherever the Mars Volta goes…); Kim Gordon (because it’s about time Outlandia have a female headliner and Lana Del Rey is probably outside their budget, but then again, so is Kim).

And let’s not forget the usual legacy acts who always get mentioned: Built to Spill, Dinosaur Jr./J Mascis, GBV, Pavement (who would be a huge get)…

The guessing game ends in a few hours. Stay tuned…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Jenny Haniver plays tonight at The Sydney in Benson.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There was an inordinate amount of new music hitting my in-box overnight. I clicked through and noted some of the more interesting indie submissions. Seems like the marketing plan these days calls for making a YouTube video (and, no doubt, a Tik Tok vid, but I don’t Tik Tok, so…). It’s got to be an expensive endeavor for these bands, and judging by how they all look in the videos, something that’s not terribly fun anymore…

Anyway, here are a few. Most of these acts also announced U.S. tours — but none are coming to little ol’ Omaha…

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Blondshell teams up with Bully on a new song that’s another corker. She announced a massive tour, that’s not coming here. 

Whatever happened to Deleted Scenes? Well their bass player, Matthew Dowling, is now in How???, who’s self-titled album is due April 26 on Misra Records.

Hovvdy released another single from their upcoming self-titled double album that drops on Arts & Crafts April 26. I love this album, though not necessarily this song. 

Pond is a bunch of dudes from Perth who have a new album called Stung! out June 21 on Spinning Top Records. That silver paint must have been a bitch to get off, eh Tin Man…

Pittsburgh’s Merce Lemon will be supporting Water From Your Eyes and Babehoven later this year, after coming off tours with Feeble Little Horse and Horse Jumper of Love (who are playing at Blind Spot May 12). 

Hamilton, Ontario’s Ellis (Linnea Siggelkow) has a sophomore album, No Place that Feels Like, coming out April 26 (self-released? She used to be on Fat Possum). 

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Tonight at The Sydney in Benson it’s Portland’s Jenny Haniver who calls their style “bummer music for bums.” Their new new album, Haunt Your Own House, drops April 15 on Landland Records. That’s Eric Nyffeler on bass and synths, Randall Taylor on guitar/synths and Jenny on drums and lead vocals. The new album was mixed by local genius Ian Aeillo at A Sunroom in Omaha! Check out the first track below. Dan Brennan’s Healer gets things going along with Teetah starting at 8 p.m., $10. Bring youse some ear plugs, yo?

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Obersts reunited for a few numbers at Oberst’s show at Teragram Ballroom in LA March 21.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Time to clean out ol’ in-box. Hold onto yer hats… Much of this you may already have seen on the socials; some you haven’t. Here we go…

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Once again, our hometown record label – Saddle Creek Records – has been nominated for a Libera Award — the annual awards handed out by the American Association of Independent Music. Saddle Creek was nominated in the Label of the Year category for labels with 6 to 14 employees. Also in their category: Captured Tracks, City Slang, Lex Records, Light in the Attic, Mack Avenue Music Group and Photo Finish Records. Seems like Saddle Creek is nominated every year. Could this be the year they take home the prize?

In addition, Saddle Creek Records artist Indigo De Souza was nominated in the Breakthrough Artist, Best Singer-Songwriter Records, and Music Video of the Year categories. The 13th annual Libera Awards ceremony will take place June 10 at Gotham Hall in New York City. More coverage at Variety.

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The indie music world was thrown in a tizzy last week when Phoebe Bridges joined Conor Oberst on his “Conor Oberst and Friends” residency show at Los Angeles’ Teragram Ballroom – a series that heads east to Bowery Ballroom in NYC next month. The best coverage of the incident appeared in Them, an online publication that purports to be the “best of what’s queer.” 

Them’s James Factora reported that Bridgers walked on stage during the show’s encore and together with Conor performed Bright Eyes classic “Lua,” Oberst’s “Double Life” from 2014’s Upside Down Mountain and Better Oblivion Community Center tune “My City.” The occasion marked the first time the two have performed together since October 2020. Factora wonders whether, with the announced hiatus of Boygenuis (Bridgers’ project with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus), if this unannounced reunion could be a sign of future BOCC things to come… 

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I already mentioned that legendary ‘90s-‘00s Omaha punk band Ritual Device is among the performers at this year’s Lincoln Calling May 3 and 4 (the festival schedule has yet to be released). Now comes word that RD will be playing back-to-back nights at Reverb Lounge in Omaha May 2-3 leading up to the LC weekend gig. The shows feature the band’s original lineup of Jerry Hug, Mike Saklar, Eric Ebers and Tim Moss. 

It’s been a decade since the band has taken the stage stage, and I’m sure there’s a good reason for this reunion. More to come…

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Speaking of artists from Omaha’s first golden age of indie music, Patrick Buchanan, the frontman of another ’90s-’00s legendary punk band, Mousetrap, yesterday released a new 5-song EP from his project House of Transgressor called Ain Soph Aur, which, along with the eerie album cover artwork, seems a wee bit satanic. Check it out on Spotify (I don’t see a Bandcamp or YouTube link), and here’s the first song on YouTube: 

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Finally, word from on high is that the fine folks who putting together the Outlandia Festival will announce the line-up for the August 9-10 festival sometime Thursday evening. No doubt you’ll see it blasted all over the socials that night, but I’ll be writing about it the following morning in Lazy-i. 

Who do you think will be this year’s headliner? After last year’s Lord Huron / Modest Mouse headliners (a festival that also included The Faint, Cat Power, Criteria, The Good Life and Horsegirl, among others), I can’t even imagine what they have up their sleeves — prior to this festival, I had never heard of Lord Huron.

With the Maha Music Festival taking the year off due to financial issues (according to their press release), Outlandia controls the board as the only indie music festival in the Omaha area this year. As it enters year 3, will it maintain its indie focus? We’ll find out Thursday night…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Sun June at Reverb Lounge, March 22, 2024.

By Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What to say about last Friday night’s Sun June/Wild Pink show at Reverb Lounge? When the official 8 p.m. start time rolled around, only about 25 people were in the crowd. It’s safe to say after this and last week’s hour-late start at The Sydney, that we are officially back to pre-Covid-19 (late) start times. 

The venues’ former punctuality was likely due to self-imposed curfews to get people in and out as quickly as possible to control human contact/virus spread. But now that Covid has become a distant memory (to most people), shows are starting 30 minutes to an hour late again. Which is fine, as long as they’re consistent — no one wants to show up assuming a late start only to discover they missed the opener because the venue (or artist) decided to be punctual. That said, let’s not get back in the other pre-Covid habit of headliners taking the stage at midnight and wrapping up after 1 a.m…

Wild Pink at Reverb Lounge, March 22, 2024.

So, Wild Pink didn’t go on until a little past 8:30 – just long enough to double the crowd size. Playing as a four-piece, Wild Pink tore through a set of dense, gorgeous, mid-tempo indie rock songs led by singer/songwriter/guitarist John Ross that reminded me of Strand of Oaks or a more tuneful (better) version of The National. They sounded very much like what’s heard on their just-released EP, Strawberry Eraser (Fire Talk Records), but without that recording’s haunting Destroyer-esque saxophone parts. 

Beyond the first-rate rhythm section, the band’s secret weapon is lead guitarist Mike Brenner, who switched between pedal steel and standard electric guitar throughout the night. It was a dreamy, well-performed set that went end-to-end with few breaks and no chatter between songs – a contrast to what was to come.

Sun June – typically a five-piece and a collaboration between front-woman Laura Colwell and guitarist/co-songwriter Stephen Salisbury — played as a four-piece with drummer Sarah Schultz and lead guitarist Michael Bain. I’m not sure who was on bass, and to be honest with you, I have no idea what Stephen Salisbury looks like or if he’s even still in the band. I reached out to Run for Cover Records via Instagram to determine the band’s current touring line-up to no avail.

Regardless, who we saw Friday night was pretty terrific. Colwell suffered some initial technical difficulties which she trouble-shooted as being caused by her glass of white wine perched atop her guitar amp. After the first trepidatious number it was smooth sailing, with the band playing songs from their most recent album, 2023’s Bad Dream Jaguar. If you think Colwell has a whispery voice on her records, it’s nothing compared to the faint, soto voce in which she began her set. 

She didn’t hit her stride until about halfway through, with solid renditions of “Texas” and “Mixed Bag” that showcased her voice and clever songwriting. “Texas” is a personal favorite, and had I enough cash I would have bought one of their T-shirts with the song’s lyric, “Texas, you keep breaking my heart.” 

Live, Sun June’s music is more energetic and less somber than on recording. Throughout the set, four or five members of the crowd sang along with Colwell, one person demonstrably so. The band brought everything back down for their final song, a stirring rendition of album standout “John Prine,” so quiet in fact, that the thump-thump-thump from whoever was playing in The Waiting Room could be heard bleeding through the back of the stage, which Colwell acknowledged with a smile, saying “Hey, you can hear them next door.” You sure can, Laura. 

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And that’s it for touring indie shows in Omaha for the balance of the month. The next show on my radar is a couple Lawrence bands, Blanky and Virgo, making a trip to Reverb Lounge April 3 (with The Dirts and Garst)…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2024 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.