by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

Clearing out the ol’ inbox…

Looks like Bright Eyes is back and they’re bringing some close friends with them on the road. The band announced additional North American dates, but no make-up date for the cancelled Omaha show (due to Conor Oberst’s “voice issues”). Will the resched happen? Who knows. 

The band also announced that Cursive will be joining them on the road in April for 18 gigs, including an April 26 show at Val Air Ballroom in Des Moines. In addition, Grrrl Camp 2024 stand-out band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, is touring with Bright Eyes in late February and most of March. 

Now we all wait to see if this tour actually happens….

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Don’t get me wrong. It still rates a “Yes” on the Lazy-i scale, but you have to be in the mood for it…

The Cure, Songs of a Lost World (2024, Universal) — It would be a shame if this winds up being The Cure’s finale as Songs of a Lost World is mostly a dismal rehash of the dense, drone, downer music the band invented with Disintegration. But unlike that landmark album, Songs has no contrasting “Pictures of You” or “Lullaby” or “Lovesong” to counterbalance the endless thundering murmur. 

The closest thing to a deviation from the drone-goth recipe are the crack-bounce “Drone:Nodrone,” which could have been the album’s biggest single, and buzz-saw rocker “All I Ever Am,” which would have been a better album closer than “Endsong,” a 10-minute black-draped snooze that highlights the biggest problem with this record – these songs just seem to crawl on and on. Whereas the 9-plus-minute “The Same Deep Water as You” from Disintegration never bores thanks in part to its sweet, playful lyrics. 

Don’t go looking for anything playful in these odes to doomsday, with lines like “We toast with bitter dregs, to our emptiness” (opening track “Alone”), or “As you hold me for the last time / In the dying of the light” from “And Nothing Is Forever” or “It’s all gone, it’s all gone I Nothing left of all I loved” from album closer “Endsong.” You get the idea. Someone’s feeling old.

So who is the audience for this album? Certainly long-time Cure fans desperately looking to relieve their personal dread from 30 years ago will be satisfied as this is their best effort since 1992’s Wish. And then there’s the new, young fans who will discover The Cure for the first time. For those sad young goths, this may become their Disintegration… Rating: Yes.

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Way back in October, The Red Pears reached out for support for their show at The Waiting Room (reviewed here). I offered the Ten Questions survey. Unfortunately, they didn’t get around to filling it out until after the show had come and gone. I sat on the interview, mainly because the responses were less than forthright, but their publicist keeps asking “where is it?” so here you go, for your reading pleasure:

Ten Question with The Red Pears

These 10 questions inspired by the Pivot Questionnaire (you might remember this from Inside the Actors Studio):

1. What is your favorite album?

The Red Pears’ Jose Corona: There are many to choose from. Something we all definitely agree on are those early releases from the early 2000’s garage/indie bands. The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, and even things from earlier eras like Pixies and Black Sabbath. I wouldn’t say it was one album that changed everything and is above the rest. But it’s a culmination of albums. 

2. What is your least favorite song?

I don’t think there is a least favorite song. I think every song and art is admired in its own ways for its own reasons. And that can change on a day-to-day basis. It’s all in the mood of things. 

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?

I think just being able to play music with your friends. Creating art. Sharing that art. And being able to do that across states and regions and countries. And meeting other bands and people that are doing the same thing. I suppose it’s our “job,” but it honestly doesn’t feel like one. Maybe it’s a very cheesy thing that is said, but it’s true. When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like a job. 

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

I wouldn’t say hate. Hate is a strong word, haha. Things can be tiring and stressful and frustrating, but what isn’t, you know? I feel like when you encounter obstacles and problems with things that you’re not passionate about, it feels like a real chore. That’s when you hate it. But when it’s something you’re really passionate about, you find ways to overcome those obstacles and problems. 

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Water! Haha, it’s been saving our lives. 

6. In what city or town do you love to perform (and why)?

Hometown shows always hit differently. But it’s also nice to receive warm welcomes when we’re far from home. 

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?

I wouldn’t say there’s been a worst gig. Even ones where things go wrong or don’t go according to plan aren’t the worst. They end up more so becoming lessons to learn from. Things can always be worse. 

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills?

We fortunately are able to. It took a lot of years and risks and sacrifices. It still requires risks and sacrifices and just smart financial management. It’s honestly a great feeling to say that this is what we do for a living. That is something that we really cherish. 

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?

Hmm…nothing really comes to mind. There isn’t a path that one would say is better. And if the path isn’t the path we’re on, then those are probably the paths that would bring unhappiness and dissatisfaction. 

10. What stories have you heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

Nothing really! I think a nice part about touring is the traveling aspect of it. I believe this is our second time coming to Omaha. The people have been very welcoming and supportive. It’s nice to see sights and meet people that you normally wouldn’t have the chance to if it weren’t for music.

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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

From the cluttered Lazy-i email box…

Bright Eyes’ frontman and Omaha native son Conor Oberst blitzed the indie music media yesterday with news that he’s recovered from his reported “vocal problems” that forced the band off the road a few weeks ago.

In a video posted on the @brighteyesofficial Instagram account, Oberst, wearing a Tracks Lounge T-shirt (world class chicken!), thanks people who “reached out,” said he’s “feeling a lot better” and that the band plans to resume touring in 2025 “if all goes well as planned.” Still no date for a rescheduled Steelhouse Omaha show, but something tells me that’s pending…

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A post shared by Bright Eyes (@brighteyesofficial)

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On the cusp of the release of her fourth studio album, yesterday Anna McClellan dropped a video for the single “Omaha,” described as “a complex tribute to her Nebraska roots.” 

“Omaha is smoking cigarettes and drinking beers on the porch until 4 am any day of the week,” mused when asked about the song. “Omaha, at least to me, is being so completely known and utterly lonely. Omaha is driving around. It’s a beautiful thing really.”

The track, written during her move to Los Angeles, concludes with the line: “Wilting ‘til I rot / Is it me or is it Omaha?” One must look inside for the answer to that question. See if you can spot your favorite Omaha hangout in the video. McClellan’s Electric Bouquet LP drops tomorrow via Father/Daughter Records. 

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Doug Kiser of seminal Omaha punk band fromanhole has a new band, Housewares, that’s making their stage debut Nov. 16 at The Sydney.

In addition to Doug on bass, the band is rounded out by a lot of familiar faces (to those of us who went to shows in the ’00s): Doug’s brother, Daryl Kiser (also ex-fromanhole) on guitar, Jason Koba of Thunder Power on drums, Scott Klemmensen of Reset on vocals, and Andy LaChance on keyboards. 

Says Kiser about the band: “It’s melodic, probably technical, with elements of post whatever, jazz, blues and maybe some country.  There is a lot of counting, that’s for sure.” We’ll see about that Nov. 16! 

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Speaking of new songs, Lincoln act Vempire released a cover of The Ramones’ “Pet Sematary” last Friday. The single is the first from their upcoming EP, Fumes, slated to drop on Halloween.  Check it:

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Here’s the latest list of touring indie shows coming to Omaha through February (just so I could include the just-announced Real Estate show (We have to have something to look forward to)). This list gets shorter and shorter…

• Oct. 26 – Porches @ Reverb
• Oct. 26 – Griefcat @ The Sydney
• Oct. 31 – Lunar Vacation @ The Slowdown
• Nov. 4 – quickly, quickly @ Reverb
• Nov. 8 – The Ivory Claws @ The Sydney
• Nov. 10 – The Sufrajettes @ Reverb
• Nov. 11 – Dusk @ Reverb
• Nov. 12 – Modest Mouse @ Steelhouse 
• Nov. 12 – The Rev. Horton Heat @ Waiting Room
• Nov. 13 – Sorry Mom @ Reverb
• Nov. 29 – VIAL @ Reverb
• Feb. 5 – Guster @ The Admiral
• Feb. 6 — Real Estate @ The Waiting Room
• Feb. 24 — Molchat Doma @ Steelhouse

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

by Tim McMahan,  Lazy-i.com

A small but attentive crowd intensely listened to songs and stories from wandering troubadour/author David Dondero at Ming Toy Gallery last night. 

Sitting in the center of the gallery with guitar and microphone he performed tunes from his latest album, 2023’s Immersion Therapy, before diving into a reading from his novel Chaos the Cat. The night’s emcee and Q&A leader, Rob Walters, joined in the reading along with a volunteer from the crowd, backed scene-setting recording of Dondero playing acoustic guitar. 

Dondero, who has been cited by a number of artists (including Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst) as a musical influence, talked about his life traveling around the country both performing music and working in odd jobs. The novel, which chronicles the people surrounding a pot-growing operation in California, is no doubt semi-autobiographical, as is most of Dondero’s songs. 

The night concluded with a rendition of his song “Bacon, Eggs and Beer,” from his 2017 album Inside the Cat’s Eye – which tied directly to the novel, forming a perfect circle of sorts. A fun night indeed.

While a lot people RSVP-ed for the performance on Facebook, the turnout was disappointing, possibly because there were no pre-show ticket sales (despite a number of requests). Buying a ticket can be a sort of commitment – without one, it’s easier for potential patrons to instead stay home on their Wednesday night and finish their TV shows or YouTube videos or whatever they do to unwind. Dondero said he might return to Ming Toy for a more music-driven show, and if it happens, we’ll figure out a way to sell pre-show tickets…

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Yesterday afternoon, Bright Eyes posted on social media that the band has cancelled three upcoming record-release shows, including an appearance at Riotfest Saturday and Sunday’s show at Steelhouse Omaha. 

“The warm up shows we played earlier this week resulted in Conor losing his voice and, on the advice of doctors, we’ve made the difficult but sensible decision to prioritize rest and recuperation for the remainder of the month,” the post read. It went onto say they’re working to reschedule the dates.

Youtube videos shot at the warmup shows in Cleveland and Chicago featured a froggy, groggy-looking Oberst. Hopefully he’ll find a cure for what ails him because Bright Eyes has a very busy six months ahead. The band has three dates scheduled for mid-October as well as a 9-date European tour in mid-November followed by West Coast dates in January. That leads into an enormous 34-date U.S. theater tour that kicks off Feb. 26 in Fayetteville. 

The band’s new album, Five Dice, All Threes, comes out tomorrow on Dead Oceans. 

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

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

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

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

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

From that 10Q interview:

1. What is your favorite album?

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

2. What is your least favorite song?

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

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

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I haven’t listened to FM radio station 89.7 The River in years, so when the Sept. 22 Bright Eyes concert at Steelhouse was announced as being “presented by 89.7 The River,” I had to wonder… Does The River even play Bright Eyes’ music? Because they never used to.

Back in the day, The River was an alt-rock/metal/grunt-rock radio station. If you were looking for Korn or Slipknot, you found your home on the radio dial. Listening to the station’s live stream as I type this (at 8 a.m. CT, June 27, 2024), they just played Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, Daughtry, Filter and Ghost, though the set started with The Last Dinner Party. 

After a bit of digging, I found The River’s playlist for the week of June 17 online at their website (the play list is here) and alas, Bright Eyes wasn’t on it. Of the 50 or so bands listed, almost all were on major labels, most were alt-rock or metal. The closest thing to an indie band was Black Keys, who started out on Fat Possum and Nonesuch but are currently on Warners. And just now, the station’s promo announced that The River is “Your anchor for metal and modern rock.” So there you go.

If that’s the case, why is the Sept. 22 Bright Eyes concert brought to you by The River? If I had to venture a guess, I’d say it had something to do with the fact that Omaha Performing Arts (the owner Steelhouse Omaha) is booked exclusively by Live Nation, a company that books national tours by a lot of the bands on The River playlist. 

The Steelhouse / Bright Eyes booking was a head-scratcher from the beginning. Bright Eyes is a Ground Control Touring band and their shows were historically booked by 1% Productions, which runs The Admiral and The Astro (with Mammoth Productions) – two venues that also would have been a good fit for this Bright Eyes show.  To be honest, I’m not sure how all these players work together.

Still, the question persists: Will 89.7 The River add Bright Eyes to their regular rotation? I know I’ve heard Bright Eyes on the station before (and not just on one of their specialty shows)… but it was probably 15 years ago. 

Anyway, all of this reminds me of the time 20 years ago when I sat on a panel hosted by The River’s Sophia John. The topic of “The River Music Summit” was how to succeed in the music business. While the Internet was definitely up and running, streaming didn’t exist (neither did iPhones), though music downloading had already begun. 

Let’s take a trip back to 2004 on this Throwback Thursday and contemplate how much — and how little — the music industry has changed…

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Who wants to be a rock star? The River Music Summit rehash – from Lazy-i, June 28, 2004

Let me preface this to say I was probably the wrong person to be on Saturday’s panel at The River Music Summit. Just a glance at the audience pretty much indicated that the vast majority of the 300+ people in the audience were metal fans, loyal listeners of 89.7 The River and support how they operate their station. I don’t listen to The River and don’t agree with their decision to play mainstream commercial metal on what’s supposed to be a college radio station. Regardless, the audience was made up mostly of musicians whose idea of success is moving a million units and being on MTV (or a Clear Channel radio station). Successful indie bands are lucky to sell 10,000 copies of their CDs. Really successful indie bands could sell 100,000. Almost none of them sell a million.

So anyway, here I was on this panel. To my left (according to the program) was Andrew Linde from Tinderstick promotions, a company that handles a lot of indie bands. To my right, three or so current or former radio executives, none from traditional college radio stations. At the far end of the table, Mike Fratt representing Homer’s Records and MarQ Manner representing Delmar Productions. Linde and I were clearly outnumbered, but then again, I doubt the majority of this audience cared two shits about the indie music scene.

The core message — how to promote your music to radio and press — was more of a seminar on how to get your music on commercial radio — i.e., how your band could be the next Korn. Sophia John, the program manager at 89.7 The River, did most of the talking. Appropriately, I said very little. At one point I had a chance to ask the crowd, “How many of you would be satisfied selling 10,000 copies of your CD?” A few dozen hands went up. Then, “How many of you would be happy selling 100,000 copies?” About half the audience raised their hands. Finally, “How many of you won’t be happy until you sell a million copies.” Here, more than half the hands went up.

Later I asked, “How many of you are in this business to make a million dollars?” One hand. Good. “All right then, how many of you are doing it for the money?” Some hands, not many. Then, “How many are in it for the music?” Most hands went up. I told them that if they could be satisfied selling 10,000 copies, they could make music the way they wanted to make music. But if they want to be on a major label, they’re going to have to compromise to the suits, and will lose control of their music — talk about stating the obvious, eh?

Still, I doubt this was what the organizers wanted communicated at the summit. The radio guy next to me made the point that the music business is all about greed — he was a real Gordon Gecko type. Sophia’s message was that The River was going to save the Omaha music scene and that it’s the only radio outlet for local music.

There was some verbal jousting between Sophia and the panelists (me included). Her and Linde argued over debt and major label record deals. Linde said that most musicians don’t realize that as soon as they sign with a major label, they’re immediately in debt. Why? Because the advance money and promotional costs are really loans to the bands, that the label is acting like a bank, loaning money that they expect to recoup through CD sales. 

Sophia took exception to this, asking Linde to name one band that had to pay back an advance to a label after they were dropped. Linde said he knew bands that were in that exact situation, but couldn’t name names. Sophia said she’d never ever heard of a failed band forced to repay a label. An apparent VH1 Behind the Music watcher in the crowd yelled, “What about the Goo Goo dolls?” Sophia yelled back, “What about the Goo Goo dolls? They’re making millions of dollars for themselves and their label.” Yeah, the guy said, but what if they hadn’t gotten signed by Warners after they were dropped by Metal Blade?

Sophia was right, of course. It seems doubtful that a major label would call out the dogs to get advance money from a failed band, probably for the simple fact that 1) It would cost more in lawyers fees and bad PR to pursue it and 2) Because the band simply doesn’t have the cash and probably never will. But wasn’t Linde’s point the fact that the bands are, in fact, in debt from the second they sign a deal? Sure, they may never have to pay back the money, but they know they’re still responsible for it, that they ethically should do what they can to pay it back. Instead, one of the panelists pointed out how it’s important for bands and musicians to set up a separate incorporated business so that the labels can’t sue them for their personal money.

Sophia didn’t like my admiration for Saddle Creek Records (It should be pointed out here that I asked the crowd to raise their hands if they had even heard of Saddle Creek Records. I counted maybe seven or eight hands). I mentioned Saddle Creek early in the panel as an example of a label that would be doing pretty well if a new artist sold 10,000 copies of a CD. That, despite the fact that Creek’s total sales since it was formed wouldn’t equal a tenth of what Eminem sold of his last CD, the label is still held in the highest esteem as a leading national indie label.

So, when someone asked about press kits, I said I threw one-sheets away — put your info on the internet along with your press photo and include the URL on the CD case. I then made the mistake of mentioning how Saddle Creek printed a brief bio on the back of their artists’ promo jewel cases. Sophia had had enough. “Saddle Creek! Is that the only label you can talk about? What about Suckapunch Records?” I replied that I didn’t think Suckapunch printed their bios on the back of their discs, then went on to talk more about Creek, which was met with Sophia’s shaking head… Oh well.

I’m guilty. I like Saddle Creek Records, their artists and what they’ve accomplished. I also think it makes sense to use them as an example as they’re the second most successful local record label (Mannheim Steamroller being the most successful overall, Creek being the most successful rock label). Historically, The River hasn’t been the biggest supporter of Saddle Creek. But according to their website, they now play Cursive and Azure Ray in rotation. Still, it’s embarrassing that you can’t hear Creek’s most successful band, Bright Eyes, on the radio in the band’s own hometown.

Sophia’s last argument (with me, anyway) came when a couple of the execs were talking about how artists get their music played on the radio. Their point appeared to be that the name of the game these days is “pay for play.” I kind of got lost here, when out of the blue, Sophia said she didn’t know how reviews get published and asked if bands or labels pay to have reviews placed in the paper. No, I said, newspapers don’t receive payments for running reviews. But Sophia disagreed, saying that it might not have happened in my experience, but she was certain that it happens all the time, which she said would explain a lot of the bad CD reviews that she’d read.

Sophia may be right. I can’t speak for Rolling Stone or Magnet or Alternative Press. I don’t know anyone who works at those pubs. They may very well be rolling in payola from CD reviews. But somehow, I doubt it.

At the end of the panel, I think the audience got what they wanted to hear. At one point, one of the radio guys said something like “I know these guys are telling you to be satisfied with selling 10,000 CDs, but I’m telling you the guys from Korn were sitting right where you are now, and they did it. You can too!” – June 28, 2004

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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

Remember what I said yesterday about going to the French Cassettes show “barring the threat of ‘baseball-sized hail’”? Yikes.

And while it sucks to miss the show, it must really suck for Slowdown and the bands. This is the worst spring weather-wise in recent memory, and it must be having a negative impact on local clubs and music venues. Like I’ve always said: If you’re even vaguely contemplating going to a show – GO! Who knows when you’ll get another chance, especially if it’s a touring indie band. 

Anyway, speaking of shows…

Yesterday Bright Eyes announced their new album, Five Dice, All threes, is being released Sept. 20 via Dead Oceans. From the press release: “Comprised of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott, the beloved band’s 10th studio album features guest performances from long time friends Cat Power, The National’s Matt Berninger and The So So Glos’ Alex Orange Drink.” 

Based on the video that also dropped yesterday for the first single, “Bells and Whistles,” local legend Roger Lewis also is playing drums in this iteration of Bright Eyes. The video was shot a few weeks ago after a cattle call for locals to participate. See if you recognize anyone you know. 

The album was recorded in Omaha at ARC Studios produced and recorded by Oberst and Mogis. Preorder the album here. 

The band also announced a six-date US tour that includes a show at Steelhouse Omaha Sept. 22, followed by a 9-date European/UK tour. 

Presale tickets to the Steelhouse show are on sale now using the code “ALLTHREES” and range in price from $49 to $130. Get ’em while you can…

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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

Cleaning out that ol’ email box…

More and more, indie artists are using Instragram almost solely for their announcements, moreso than any other social media platform. At least that’s been my experience. Facebook is for “old people,” Tik Tok is for the younsters, Twitter/X is for Trumpers, but Instagram still holds value for hip. young music fans, maybe because it’s harder for advertisers to usurp.

Take Bright Eyes, for instance. Earlier this week the band announced it has a new album coming out this fall via this video “reel” on Instagram featuring Conor Oberst’s nephew, Sam. And a day or so prior to that, Bright Eyes posted a photo from what appears to be the inside of ARC Studio in Omaha, with the caption “baking cake.” Ho-ho!

Online publications like Exclaim! glommed onto the posts and amplified the news with headlines like “Bright Eyes Confirm 11th Album Arriving This Fall.” More info coming soon… no doubt, via Instagram. 

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Monsters of Folk, on the other hand, used a traditional Press Release to announce the band’s just released reissue of their 2009 debut via ATO Records. The reissue includes five additional tracks recorded in 2012 with Centro-matic’s Will Johnson for use in an unproduced science fiction film scripted by Conor Oberst (which we’d all love to see. Maybe Conor can share the script with Icky Blossoms’ guitarist and motion picture director Nik Fackler?). 

Here’s another of those newly released sci-fi tracks…

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While Saddle Creek Records’ original crown jewel bands Bright Eyes and Cursive announced new albums on competing record labels, Omaha’s hometown record company last week announced it’s releasing the next album by Spirit of the Beehive, titled You’ll Have to Lose Something, on Aug. 23. 

The band dropped the first video from the album (below), and announced its U.S. tour, which unfortunately doesn’t include Omaha. Closest passes are Chicago’s The Outset Sept. 28 or Denver’s Meow Wolf Sept. 30.

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Closer to home, singer/songwriter Jeremy Mercy’s latest band — Jeremy Mercy and the Rapture Orphans — released a new single called “Dead Headlights (Another Winter in Omaha)” from their forthcoming EP Heavyweight: Volume II. The tracks were recorded at Make Believe Studio and were produced and mixed by audio engineer extraordinaire Ian Aeillo (Flight School). Check out the new track below.

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And what have I been listening to lately? I’ve been spending a lot of time with Cursive’s new album, Devourer, which comes out Sept. 13 on Run for Cover Records. I’ve already written a review of the album, but the band’s PR folks want me to hold it until the record drops, which is fine (whatever happened to building anticipation?).

I will say this about the album, however – it’s a return to classic Cursive and is, in my humble opinion, the best thing they’ve done since Happy Hallow. You’ll have to wait to read the rest of the review…

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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

After Conor Oberst wrapped up his bi-coastal “Conor and friends” residencies speculation began as to what’s next for Mr. Oberst. His musical output used to run in cycles between Bright Eyes, solo work, Desaparecidos and other projects (Monsters of Folk, Better Oblivion Community Center, etc.). Well, a couple clues sprung up in the past few days. 

First, there was a casting call on the official Bright Eyes Instagram account for volunteers to appear in a Bright Eyes video, apparently to be shot in or around Omaha on May 23 and 23. The posted graphic included three sets of dice and faux casino lights, which leads one to believe they’ll be shooting it somewhere over on the boats (our local slang for the Council Bluffs casinos). 

You had to be 19 or older (or with a legal guardian) and also sign an NDA. Well, as quickly as the offer went up, the offer was closed due to having received enough “entries.” Of course, people speculated that this is a pre-cursor to a new Bright Eyes release, but I suspect it may have something to do with a rerelease of older material. Time will tell.

And then this past Tuesday a press release went out announcing the release of a 15th anniversary reissue of the Monsters of Folk debut album. Monsters of Folk consisted of Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis. 

First released in 2009, the rerelease includes the original 15-song album joined by five additional studio tracks from a previously unreleased 2012 session featuring “Fifth Monster” Will Johnson (Centro-matic).

From the press release: “Those five tracks – which include ‘Disappeared’ and the moody folk epic, ‘Museum Guard’ – were initially meant to accompany a dystopic sci-fi film based on a screenplay penned by Oberst, a project that was eventually shelved.”

A dystopic sci-fi film written by Conor? I would have loved to have seen that. And they could have shot it over on the boats and saved money on building dystopian-looking sets. 

The album drops June 14 on ATO Records and can be preordered here. Check out the Springsteen-esque newly release track, “Disappeared,” below. 

A Monsters of Folk tour to accompany this release would be pretty cool. So would new MofF material. Ah, but I’d still rather see that sci-fi movie. Come on, Conor!…

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

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Yesterday Bright Eyes released their version of John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison,” a song Prine originally released on a 1993 Christmas EP. The waltz features Conor singing with a middle interlude where Prine talks about his Christmas’s past. 

Says Oberst: “It is strange to get a chance to share a track with a hero of mine who has passed on. Normally not something I would do. I don’t like holograms. But I have so much love and affection for John as a person and his music.”

All proceeds generated from the release will go toward four major beneficiaries of John Prine’s charity, The Hello In There Foundation.

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Not much happening show-wise this month, though there has been a slew of spring tour announcements – from Slowdive, Echo and the Bunnymen and Adam Ant  – none involving Omaha. Cool indie bands continue to route around us despite all these fancy new concert facilities.

Hey, at least we got Neva Dinova Dec. 14, and Icky Blossoms Dec. 26…

And tonight, you have Lincoln folk trio The Wildwoods at Reverb Lounge. Their most recent album is Foxfield Saint John, self-released this past February. Opening is Minneapolis duo Good Morning Bedlam. $15, 8 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

As a preview to their upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst did a couple lengthy inteviews.  It’s a time for reminiscing for ol’ Conor, now 43, who goes back into the mind vault and talks about his early days. 

The article in The Music, “Australia’s most respected source for music news,” is the better of the two. Written as a feature story, the writer lays down some ancient history. 

Here are the best quotes from that article (which you can read in its entirety right here): 

• — “It’s a running joke – or kinda a half-joke – that we’ll be at an airport with a bunch of guitars, and someone asks us, ‘What kind of music do you play?’ and a number of years ago, I took to saying, ‘Yeah, it’s called confusion rock’, have you heard of that?’ It doesn’t make any sense, and all our records sound different, so if you love one, you’ll probably hate the next one!’ That’s our own genre.”

• — On the recent reissues and Companion series: “It basically happened because we moved our whole catalogue from Saddle Creek – which is the label we started as kids, which ran its course – and we moved over to Dead Oceans and the Secretly Group, and they’ve been amazing.” – Last I looked, Saddle Creek still was very much a functioning label. 

• — “When I listen to or think about an album like [2000 third album] Fever And Mirrors, yeah, there’s a lot of embarrassing things on there – things I wrote and the way I sang and the over-the-top adolescence of it – but then every year somebody goes to high school and somebody’s older sister hands them a copy of it, and this has been happening for 20 years.”

• — “I definitely think the output has decreased over the years. When I was a teenager or in my early 20s, I was writing constantly, and it was the only thing I thought about, or cared about really, at all. Probably to my detriment, in a lot of ways, because I think I’ve probably ruined some relationships and made some bad decisions… I don’t know, all of the stuff that you do when you’re a kid.”

• — “I always joke that I’ve never worked a day in my life, which is not true, but you know what I’m saying, it’s fine. My buddy’s a part-time musician, and if I’m ever complaining about something on tour or about something that happened, he always goes [adopts deadpan voice], ‘Hey, beats pushing a broom’. Ain’t that the truth.”

The Mixdown appears to be another Australian-based publication (there’s not a lot of info about them on their own website). Their interview with Oberst is a straight up Q&A by someone who admits to be a long-time fan. 

The best quotes from the Mixdown interview (which you can read in its entirety here):

• — “Commander Venus – such a bad name.” Come on now, Conor, nothing wrong with that band name. Certainly it’s as good as Bright Eyes.
  
• — “People seem to like our records 5 years after they’re released. So it’s always felt like ‘let’s just make something and wait 5 years for someone to tell us it’s brilliant!’ But when it comes out it’s like ‘this is fucking shit!’ [Laughs]”
  
• — On the next Bright Eyes record: “You know, we’ve been recording it… If all goes well maybe next fall. Knock on wood. Or early 2025. That feels so far away though. So I’m hoping for next fall.”

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Tonight at Ming Toy Gallery (that’s the gallery run by my better half) located at 6066 Maple in the heart of Benson, artist and musician Josh Audiss is playing a set of music. Audiss writes in a modern folk, singer/songwriter style. The free show starts at 7 p.m. and you’ll also get a chance to see (and buy) some of his art, which is on display at Ming Toy through the end of the month.

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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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.