by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Column 285: Sonic Youth

Tapping the mind of a 17-year-old.

Out of the blue last week I received an e-mail from Molly Misek. Ms. Misek had read my column/review of the Concert for Equality and wanted to interview me for an article for The Network, the highly esteemed Marian High School newspaper. I said sure, but to be fair, there’d have to be an information exchange — she could interview me, if I could interview her.

Look, how often am I going to get a chance to interview a 17-year-old about the music that surrounds her everyday life during what arguably is/will be her most formative years? Do you remember what you were listening to when you were 17? It’s very likely that you’re still listening to that same music today. And let’s face it, how else is a guy of my vintage (with no kids of his own) really supposed to find out what today’s youth is listening to?

Molly’s questions keyed on the Benson concert, the issues surrounding it, and, of course, the bands. Her piece will focus more on the cause than the music, even though it was Conor Oberst — not the plight of illegal immigrants — that drew her attention to the show. “It wasn’t about the issue at all. I’m a fan of Bright Eyes,” she said. “Everything Conor does is pretty awesome. I’m mostly a fan of him, and can’t say I was a fan of any other bands that played, but I’m not so into the super Omaha indie scene.”

Her love of all things Oberst began in 7th Grade when her cousins visited from Laredo, Texas. “They’re super-big fans of Bright Eyes,” she said. “Anyway, we were in Target and we see this guy in dark glasses and this shady kind of hair, and my cousin said, ‘Oh my god, that looks like Conor Oberst.’ She walks by him and says, ‘That’s his voice, Molly.’ Why would he be in a SuperTarget across from my house? They finally made me go up and ask and he said he was (Oberst), and autographed her shoe or something. After that, I got interested in his music and his albums. I wish I had been more of a fan, I would have appreciated it more.”

These days Molly’s record collection consists of about 60 CDs and 3,500 songs on iTunes, about half of which she actually purchased. “I used to buy a lot of CDs,” she said. “Before I got my Macbook I would buy them the regular way, from iTunes. Now that I have my Macbook, I rip them from YouTube if they’re good quality. I was never an ‘illegal person’ — I will buy a song if I feel the band deserves the money for it, not that any band doesn’t.”

Her last purchase was an Interpol CD, bought at Target or Best Buy. “It was probably not even a month ago,” she said. “I went through an Interpol craze and bought their previous three albums.”

Misek said she discovers new music on websites like Spinner.com. “They have a ‘Free MP3 of the Day,’ and I download it every day,” she said. Spinner has a few mainstream tracks (Weezer’s “Memories” is available), but its focus is almost solely indie music, with new tracks by bands like !!!, Revolver, and Broken Social Scene.

How does she define indie? “Indie music is considered anything that anyone doesn’t know about,” Misek said. “There are people who say, ‘Bright Eyes is too mainstream.’ Everyone can be a snob sometimes. When something becomes popular, you can become angry because you knew about it before anyone else. I needed to let that go and like music just to like it, not to be perceived as ‘cool’ or ‘indie.’ A lot of time indie music isn’t even that good.”

Her current favorite song is the new one by Enrique Iglesias. She also likes Lady Gaga (“I think she’s pretty revolutionary”), the new Arcade Fire, Miike Snow and Kid Cudi. “People like rap because it’s good at dances,” she said. “It’s easy to listen to. I’m not a huge fan of rap, but I won’t delete it from my iTunes.”

Molly goes to shows “every couple of months,” and would attend more all-ages shows, but “it’s a problem because I have to get a notarized parent’s signature. It’s a lot of work.” She didn’t know that places like The Slowdown can keep parental slips on file.

To galvanize a stereotype, I rattled off the names of 15 old-school bands like Boston, Journey and REM. Misek was familiar with all of their music, except for Tom Jones (“I’ve heard of him”), The Moody Blues (“never heard their music”), The Dead Kennedys, The Minutemen (Why would she know their music?), and one of my dad’s favorites, Herb Albert (while she knew about The Pixies because they’re one of her dad’s favorites).

Over the course of our hour-long phone interview, we talked about radio (“I used to like 89.7 The River, but now they play more hardcore stuff”), metal (“Weird metal bands are more popular with guys. It’s just gross”), Katy Perry (“I like her despite being normal bubble-gum pop”), and the “next big thing” (“From my point of view, it’s electronic”).

Even though technology has changed the way Molly’s generation listens to music, not much else has changed since when I was her age. Back then, I was always looking for that song that would change my life. Molly’s no different.

“Sometimes you’ll be listening to a song and then one lyric will hit you, and you’ll think ‘Oh my god, I so know what you’re talking about,'” she said. “Maybe I’m too romantic, but music is an expression of the soul. It kind of changes your mind a little. If you identify with a song, isn’t that what it’s supposed to do? Isn’t everything in your life life-changing?”

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room is the return of Eux Autres. As I said in this vintage 2005 interview, it’s pronounced “ooz-oh-truh,” and it means “The Others” in French, of course. The brother-and-sister rock band from Portland has Omaha roots. Guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Larimer graduated from North High School in ’96, while his drummer/vocalist sister Heather graduated from Central in ’90, where she was “the cheerleader that never smiled.” Since that story was written, the band added drummer Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set, Still Flyin’) and released a second album, Cold City, on Happy Birthday to Me Records, along with a handful of singles. They’ve got a new album, Broken Bow, waiting in the wings for a November release. Check out their latest free downloadable single, “World Cup Fever 2010.” It’s good. Opening is The Third Men. 9 p.m., $7.

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As NYPD detective John McClane said, “Welcome to the party, pal.”

Former Reader editor turned-environmental journalist-turned music writer Andrew Norman yesterday launched a new music column on the starcityblog.com website called Hearing Lincoln.

And he’s already got a prime-time Lincoln scoop:

“A collective groan welcomed news that UUVVWWZ is going on an indefinite hiatus as drummer Tom Ambroz leaves to work in Australia. Bummer. Catch their secret last show Tuesday night at Duffy’s Tavern, 1412 O St., at 9 p.m. Free.”

That show is tonight, btw. Seems like only yesterday (instead of back in Feb. 2008) that I first heard UUVVWWZ playing at the now-closed Saddle Creek Bar and declared them (in this review) “the best local band I’ve heard play live in a couple years.” I also said that if I had a label, I’d sign them. Instead, It Are Good and Saddle Creek Records both signed them and released their debut album. And now, it’s over…

Starcityblog.com is a temporary home for Andy’s blog until his music website, hearnebraska.org, launches sometime next month. Organized as a non-profit entity (he’s going all 501c3 up in there), the site is being designed to communicate all things music in Nebraska — not just Lincoln, not just Omaha. It’ll do this via a conglomeration of blogs, feeds, video, streams, and of course, social media. The hearnebraska Facebook page, vimeo page, and Twitter feed have been live for weeks now.

Full disclosure: Yours truly is on the Hear Nebraska board, along with a handful of other “movers and shakers” who are — in some way — involved in the music scene. Stay tuned…

* * *

Aussie performance/noise artist Justice Yeldham is doing his thing tonight at The Hole, 712 S. 16th St. According to the gig page, “this dude is amazing! uses broken glass on his mouth to make music/noise, not for the faint of heart (i.e. BLOOD!)” Ugh! Also on the bill is Bad Speler (Darren Keen project); Solypsis (experimental/grindcore/breakcore) from Denver/Phoenix/Chicago; Plack Blague (black metal/techno/house) from Lincoln; Violator X (experimental/metal/noise) from Lincoln/Minneapolis, and Seeded Plain (experimental/noise) from Lincoln. It’s a veritable Lincoln noise Invasion. $6, 8 p.m.

* * *

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

The Stay Awake at O'Leaver's, Aug. 21, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Stay Awake sounded particularly sinister Saturday night at O’Leaver’s. Frontman/guitarist Steve Micek explained from stage that he couldn’t “feel” with his ring and pinkie fingers of his left hand after having pinched a nerve. “I’m getting old,” he said. Aren’t we all? Regardless, no one in the audience could tell he was suffering from this temporary disability. The band sounded as raw and unnerving as it always does. They don’t make it easy on their audiences, nor do they try to. The trio’s music is rhythmically violent — a throbbing math equation that solves itself by kicking over the instructor’s desk and kneeing him/her in the groin before scrawling a giant “Fuck You” on the chalk board with the skin/blood of their fists. I like this band; I like them even more when they “lock in” and drive everyone right over the edge with no intention of slowing down. Circumstances have placed The Stay Awake’s future in question. I strongly suggest you catch them the next time they play, because it may be your last chance.

Saturday night also was the debut of Millions of Boys, a new band by Honey & Darling bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sara Bertuldo. She’s primarily playing guitar in this new trio that sounds more cuddlecore K Records poppy than her other band, which also played Saturday night. It’s the first time I’ve seen Honey & Darling in about six months, and they’ve honed their sound to a glistening edge, no matter what instrument any of the members end up playing on any given song (They change it up a lot). In both bands, Bertuldo’s soft, sweet voice could barely be heard over rhythm sections. Frankly, there’s not much a club like O’Leaver’s — with its limited PA — can do about someone who sings just barely above a whisper when the rest of the band is in flames.

* * *

Tonight at The Waiting Room it’s Good Speakers — a new monthly series by Darren Keen. The show features Talking Mountain

, Enfant Coma (Jacob Thiele’s DJ project) and Bad Speler, which Keen describes as  “experimenting with Drum and Bass and noise.” The show is well-explained at the One Percent website, so go there for more info. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Just as I posted the item yesterday saying Tim Kasher wasn’t touring anywhere near Omaha, he released a full tour itinerary that includes a date at The Waiting Room Nov. 19. You can read the full schedule at the Saddle Creek website, here.

* * *

Someone e-mailed yesterday asking for more details on the 5th of May recording after having seen this week’s column in The Reader (No. 284). The respective blog entry with links, etc., is here. Check it out.

* * *

It’s looking like another O’Leaver’s weekend…

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Dim Light is headlining a show with Leeches of Lore and Comme Reel (No Blood Orphan). $5, 9 p.m. And then tomorrow night at O’Leaver’s, The Stay Awake is headlining a show with Honey & Darling and Millions of Boys. $5, 9 p.m.

Also on my radar screen is a special birthday bash for Filter Kings‘ frontman Gerald Lee Meyerpeter at The Barley Street Tavern tonight. Performing at this festive event are Lash Larue, Alex McManus, Whipkey/Zimmerman/Sing, and of course, Lee himself. Show starts at 9, no idea what it’ll cost you to get in. Drop down and buy Lee a shot of Thunder Chicken…

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

My mailbox is becoming crowded with fall tour information. You can check out the Merge tour schedules on the webboard here. There are only two Omaha dates — The Love Language opening for Local Natives Sept. 30 at The Waiting Room, and She & Him at The Anchor Inn Aug. 28. Arcade Fire has no Midwest dates.

HitFix has an interesting list of “10 Indie Rock Tours to Get Excited About.” No. 1 is Conor and the Felice Brothers.*yawn* The most intriguing is No. 3, Sufjan Stevens. How’s those states albums coming along, bro? The closest he’s coming to Omaha is KC’s Uptown Theater Oct. 17.

Tim Kasher also announced some tour dates — four to be exact, nowhere near here (though since he lives here now, you never know where he might pop up with a guitar) — along with releasing his first track from The Game of Monogamy for streaming, called “Cold Love” (listen to it here). It sounds like a Good Life song, right down to the mopey lyrics, which Kasher told SPIN

,  are “mostly, [about] really boring sex, couples who have run out of steam in their relationships, whose sex life is reduced to going through the motions,” and that laments a “vanilla existence.” Yikes. Ever wonder what would have happened to Kasher’s career if he’d gotten married and had three kids and lived in a big house in Dundee? Thankfully, it sounds like he’s miserable, which, of course, means more music for the rest of us (what would he possibly sing about if he were happy?).

* * *

Two shows tonight:

Tapes ‘n’ Tapes are playing at The Waiting Room tonight. Just as interesting are the openers. Broken Spindles — Joel Petersen of The Faint’s “side project.” And Touch People, a new electronic project that has a new vinyl-only record out on The Faint’s blank.wav label, which you’ll likely be hearing tracks from tonight. $12, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, down at Slowdown Jr., Midwest Dilemma is headlining a show with Kyle Harvey that’s also a CD release show for ukelele singer/songwriter phenom Rebecca Lowry’s project All Young Girls Are Machine Guns, whose debut, Secret Attic Recordings, is being released by Harvey’s Slo-Fi Records. Backing Lowry on stage is drummer Scott Zimmerman and upright-bass player Travis Sing. $5, 9 p.m.

* * *

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The hottest new indie rock release so far this year is The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Does it live up to the hype?

Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

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 third album, is as inventive as anything on 2004’s Funeral, certainly moreso than Neon Bible

. The album is so radio-friendly (in an ’80s sort of way) that it almost slips out of an indie classification into the mainstream. But it’s the songs’ consistently bleak lyrics that will keep any of them from becoming household anthems. The themes: Boredom, lost opportunities, futility, modernism, isolationism, instant nostalgia, and some unforeseen looming apocalypse. All that desolation wrapped in such a pretty package. So yeah, it’s an endearing bummer that’s appropriate for these bummer times we live in, a perfect snapshot of an uncertain world, and dead accurate, but that doesn’t make it any more fun to listen to. My advice: Hang on for the ride and pay attention to the lyrics at your own peril — you may never want to get out of bed in the morning. Lazy-i rating: Yes. My RS star rating: 4 stars. My Pitchfork-style 10-point rating: 8.0.
* * *

There are a couple good shows going on tonight. Too bad both are in Lincoln.

Pharmacy Spirits is playing a show at Knickerbocker’s with Another Option and The Escape Clause. 9 p.m., no pricing info. Meanwhile, Baby Tears is headlining a show at Duffy’s with Skin of Earth and Moistoid and the Dumps. 9 p.m., and again, no pricing info.

* * *

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.

Tennis at Slowdown Jr., Aug. 16, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

There continues to be a trend in indie music toward ’50s and ’60s-style doo-wap rock. Denver band Tennis, who played to around 50 at Slowdown Jr. Monday night, certainly fits into the category. Consisting of husband and wife duo Patrick Riley (guitar) and Alaina Moore (keyboards/vocals), they played a set of easy-going throwback rock featuring Riley’s glowing Telecaster that sounded like it was transported out of a jukebox from Happy Days. Moore’s voice had that uneasy Natalie Merchant lilt (when it was in key).

online pharmacy https://sunrisedental.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/wpml/twig/sildalis.html with best prices today in the USA

Cabana Boys at Slowdown Jr., Aug. 16, 2010.

Opening with their usual solid set of yell-along punk songs were the anglers from Well Aimed Arrows, who ratcheted up their enthusiasm despite having to stare at a sea of seated patrons (Come on, folks, get out of your chairs, ferchrissake). Last night also was the world premier of Cabana Boys, a new trio featuring bassist Annie Dilocker (Digital Leather), drummer Kit Carson  (La Casa Bombas), and guitarist Kevin Cline (Watching the Train Wreck). You could call their sound “drunken garage rock slacker surf,” except that none of them appeared to be drunk. More to come, please…

* * *

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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Filmmaker Lindsay Trapnell e-mailed me a week or so ago to tell me about a film she’s trying to get financed via Kickstarter, the fund-raising website which you remember from Digital Leather.

The film is called Seafarer and the primary actors are Melissa Geary from Honeybee and Sam Martin from Capgun Coup. “And though we’re not quite to the scoring/music stage of the film, the film will feature original music from area musicians and bands,” Trapnell said.

According to the film’s Kickstarter site, the movie is “about floating between adolescence and adulthood. It’s about feeling swallowed up by a big city and yearning for a simpler life. It’s about realizing that every relationship in your life is in transition, from your parents to your partner. It’s about feeling lost and searching. It’s about realizing you are still young and letting go. It’s about getting up one morning and taking off, driving across the country, and landing in the Midwest.” In other words, it sounds like a coming-of-age rock movie. You can check out an early trailer at the Kickstarter site or at the official Seafarer website.

Plans call for shooting on location in Omaha this fall. “Our most expensive costs include procuring camera and sound equipment and accessories like lenses, a dolly, a car rig etc. These items, which are quite costly, are critical to our film as the story will be told primarily through visuals. We will also use money raised to feed our cast and crew, pay for necessary travel, create DVDs, and market the film and enter festivals.”

So far, 34 people have pledged $2,365 (including one who pledged $500!). The goal is to raise $3,500 by Aug. 30. Of course your pledge will earn you all kinds of cool stuff, including limited edition recordings, DVDs, photos, souvenirs, even a cameo in the film. Check out the Seafarer Kickstarter page.

This is not Trapnell’s first attempt at film making. Her short film, Hump, was selected as part of Film Streams’ Local Filmmaker Showcase. You can watch Hump online at www.lindsaytrapnell.com

* * *

Even more mail… Last month I got an email from Lazy-i reader Kelly Murphy, who uncovered a rare 1990 recording of Omaha band 5th of May made at the old KRCK studio which was located “above the drug store at 50th and Dodge and was broadcast on KRCK 95.3 via Cox Cable,” Murphy said. He added that KRCK was a true pirate FM station until the FCC paid a visit to owner Paul Kriegler. Afterward, the station changed hands a number of times before Matt Markel took over, made it “legitimate” and changed the format to goon rock.

Anyway, the line-up of 5th of May was Marty Maxwell, vocals; Frank Maxwell, guitar; Bob Boyce, drums; Mike Jaworski, bass, and Bob Crawford, guitar. The setlist from that November 1990 session was, according to Murphy: The Kid, Backdoor, Calling Out Your Name, All Kinds of Weird, Shoutdown, Take What’s Yours, Lead Singer of Firehose, The Ride, Out of Time, Crosstown Traffic, He We Go Again.

Here’s the kicker: Now you, too, can own a CDR copy of that 5th of May performance. Murphy has offered to burn copies for anyone who drops him an e-mail at kelly@triagestaff.com. I’ve got a copy, and the recording quality is surprisingly good, while the music can only be described as “groovy.”

* * *
There are two very hot shows going on tonight.

At Slowdown Jr., Denver indie buzz band Tennis hits the stage. Read about them in this article in the New York Times or check out their music at their Myspace page. Headlining is Omaha’s very own Honey & Darling. Also on the bill are bark-rockers Well Aimed Arrows and the debut of Cabana Boys (Annie from Digital Leather, Kit from La Casa Bombas, and Kev from Watching the Train Wreck). $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, The Watson Twins (who you might remember from Jenny Lewis’ first solo tour) are playing at The Waiting Room with Ferraby Lionheart. $10, 9 p.m.

* * *

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

Quitzow at The Waiting Room, Aug. 12, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Want proof of the amazing power of Lazy-i and The Reader? Check this out: If you didn’t count members of the other bands and the staff at The Waiting Room last night, there was a grand total of two people there at 9 p.m. to see the Young Love Records showcase. So suck on that OWH!

Who knows what happened. Maybe it was the thousand-degree heat or the three NFL football games or the English Beat at Slowdown (though I was told that was slow, too). Maybe it was the previous night’s show that drew just under 100 people. Whatever it was, the club was sadly empty when Setting Sun took the stage. But like the true pro that he is, frontman Gary Levitt performed his full set with the same panache as if it was a packed room. So did Quitzow, who saw the crowd triple in size to about six during her funky set of electronic dance pop that lured one couple to the dance floor to shake their asses. The crowd eventually ballooned to at least 30 when Landing on the Moon started at around a quarter to midnight, playing their usual solid set of indie rock ballads.

Poorly attended shows have forever been a rite of passage for indie bands, and last night’s was no exception. Quitzow and Setting Sun now have a story they can pass along after their inevitable rise to rock star status — the night they played in Omaha to two people, and still managed to rock the house.

* * *

Thursday night and last night were my “weekend shows.” There’s nothing on my radar for tonight or Saturday night. Phoenix is playing at Stir tonight, but I just saw them in September last year. With no new album and no chance of hearing new material, why bother seeing the exact same show again, especially at $35 per ticket? Opening is unknown band Toro Y Moi. Show starts at 8. Snoozer bluesman William Elliott Whitmore is playing at The Waiting Room tonight with Matt Cox and Muscle Worship. $10, 9 p.m.

And that, as they say, is that. Look for me at The Brothers or some other fine drinking establishment…

* * *

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.

So-So Sailors at The Waiting Room, Aug. 11, 2010.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The best part about music criticism other than the free CDs is following young bands, watching them from their first performance, seeing where they’re headed, and in the case of an act like It’s True, watching them burst into flames just as they begin to reach their zenith.

Along those lines, it’s a pleasure to watch So-So Sailors evolve right before my eyes. When I saw their “debut” at The Slowdown a few months ago, their music was interesting, but the band, especially frontman Chris Machmuller, seemed tentative and unsure. It was, after all, their first gig. What did you expect? But if they could pull something off in that situation, and pique your interest to see them again — and then again like last night — well, they must have something going on.

I wouldn’t call last night’s set, played in front of about 65 people at The Waiting Room, a “night and day” performance compared to the Slowdown set; instead it was more like “night and daybreak,” when the light is just beginning to come up and you can begin to make out features in the landscape that were invisible only a few moments earlier. So-So Sailors’ sound has become more visible, but not all the features are well-defined.

Their first song last night turned out to be their best — a tune that took advantage of the two-piano attack (Machmuller on one keyboard, Dan McCarthy on the other across the stage) along with Machmuller’s voice. As I’ve said before, if you’re expecting the pained screech-howl that he uses for Ladyfinger, it’s not there. Instead, Machmuller sings with a sweet, high voice reminiscent of very early, quiet (and forlorn) Neil Young. And when he pulls out his alto sax, you can’t help but smile.

As a whole, all the songs and arrangement last night were very Young-ian; there was even one soft tune that I thought could be a Neil cover. The formula calls for the rest of the band — Alex McManus on guitar, Dan Kemp on drums and Brendan Greene-Walsh on bass — to come in after a quiet intro verse by Machmuller and the keyboard(s), turning songs into crashing, grand rock odysseys that are arty and jazzy and bittersweet, especially after everyone pulls back again at the end, inevitably leaving Machmuller and the keyboard(s) to walk away alone into the dark.

Machmuller’s voice did lose some of its oomph toward the end of the set, like a balloon slowly deflating, eventually getting lost in the mix (especially on the last song). But that will only get better over time. It already has, compared to their debut. There’s a buzz around town about So-So Sailors, and there should be because they’re doing something that’s beyond the norm for this neck of the woods. It beacons back to ’70s rock, but without the chug-a-lug stomp or tired Americana twang. It’s both nostalgic and completely modern, and sounds like it’s still being distilled. I can’t wait to see where they take it next.

Ted Stevens kicked off the night with a solo set that was at its best when he loosened up and let himself be inventive with his electric guitar rather than merely sing over chords. He played some licks last night that took his sound in an entirely different direction than I’ve heard either with his past solo work or with Mayday.

The Bruces at The Waiting Room, Aug. 11, 2010.

The Bruces were a highlight. The line-up was Alex McManus on electric guitar and vocals, and Steve Micek on drums. Micek was as much in focus on stage as McManus, playing inventive, almost improvisational drum fills that gave a backbone to every song. This wasn’t McManus folk, it was McManus rock, but with a keen appreciation for melodies  — I’ve seen Alex do solo electric sets in the past that, quite frankly, were simply too dissonant for my taste. Instead, these were terrific songs with downtrodden and oftentimes strange lyrics painting stark, unique, lonely images. At times, it reminded me of darker Silver Jews material, but McManus’ voice is richer and more soulful than David Berman’s. Add Micek’s throaty drums and it came together as a special treat, one of the best live sets of music I’ve heard from McManus.

* * *

The Young Love Records caravan pulls into The Waiting Room tonight — Setting Sun, Quitzow and Landing on the Moon (for more info, see yesterday’s blog). $7, 9 p.m.

The English Beat returns to The Slowdown again after just being here in March. This time, the more impressive Fishbone isn’t along for the ride. Instead, the openers are Bad Manners and Chris Murray. $20, 8 p.m.

* * *

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