Anonymous American  at Slowdown Jr., Nov. 30, 2011. The band reunites tonight at The Barley Street Tavern.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Feels like a Saturday, doesn’t it? The holidays will do that to you, especially if you have the day off.

Lots o’ shows going on this weekend. Let’s get right to it…

Expect a nutso crowd at The Brothers Lounge tonight for a reunion of Capgun Coup. Today as in 2004 when the band first got rolling, Sam Martin, Greg Elsasser and the rest of the crew were/are on the verge of something. Find out what that “something” is tonight. Joining them is hip-hop crew M34N STR33T. $5, 9 p.m.

Listen to “Bad Bands” from Capgun Coup’s Maudlin (Team Love, 2009), below:

Also tonight at brand new all-ages rock venue Milk Run there’s a three-band bill featuring Lincoln band Domestica — consider it a christening of the club as only Jon and Heidi can. Also on the bill are The Morbs (Lincoln indie-pop trio featuring members of Manic Pixie Dream Girls) and Relax, It’s Science (Jeremy Stanosheck and Co.). $5, 9 p.m.

Read more about Milk Run in my detailed interview with the club’s proprietors, Chris Aponick and Sam Parker, and watch this interview from Hear Nebraska.

Speaking of reunions, Matt Whipkey and the boys of Anonymous American reunite at The Barley Street Tavern tonight. The band, which also features Wayne Brekke, Bobby Carrig and Corey Weber, hit its stride with the 2004 self-release of When the Drummer Counts to Four. Opening is Travelling Mercies. $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night is all about The Good Life at The Slowdown main room. Consider it a victory lap for the band whose been touring on and off since the release of Everybody’s Coming Down (Saddle Creek, 2015) this past August. Read about the record here. It’s a star-studded bill with the return of Big Harp, whose new cassette Waveless (Majestic Litter, 2015) is a career high-water mark. If that wasn’t enough to get you to Slowdown, the hottest Omaha band of 2015, High Up, opens. $13, 9 p.m.

Also going on Saturday night, Ocean Black (the band formerly known as Nightbird) headlines at O’Leaver’s. Joining them are Laughing Falcon and Montee Men (Matt Baum and Co.). $6, 9:30 p.m.

And John Klemmensen and the Party headlines at Lookout Lounge, 320 So. 72nd Street. Also on the bill are Anthems, Low Long Signal and Super Ghost. $5, 9 p.m.

Consider Sunday a day of rest.

That’s what I got for this weekend. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a frosty 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It looks to be monumentally quiet gig-wise this week. In fact, there’s virtually nothing on my radar the entire week. Post-holiday doldrums? I guess.

The only notable gig news came in a press release stating that Elvis Costello is booked for the Rococo in Lincoln March 3. Tix on sale Thursday at noon starting at $47.

Speaking of Lincoln gigs, Cursive announced it’s added a show at Vega in Lincoln March 22, the day after their gig at The Waiting Room.

Going through the ol’ in-box…

Capgun Coup frontman Sam Martin, last seen doped out in Nik Fackler’s film Sick Birds Die Easy, has a new album out a week from Tuesday, Dec. 9, on Omaha’s own Make Believe Recordings called A Notion in an Ocean. The record features a slew of guests, including Greg Elsasser, Sean Pratt, Noah Kohl, Dereck Higgins, Jesse Mckelvey and Todd Fink. Check out the video for the first single, “Bye Bye,” below.

How’d you do at Record Store Day Friday? I was surprised to find a lot of inventory still available at Homer’s and Drastic Plastic when I dropped in on both stores that afternoon. My only official RSD purchase was the American Hustle soundtrack. Other than that, I bought a copy of Joy Division’s Preston 28 February 1980 live album, out on Drastic Plastic Records (massive 200 gram vinyl), and scored used copies of Peter Gabriel’s debut album and Harry Nilsson’s The Point at Almost Music. Not bad…

BTW, those Guardians of the Galaxy cassettes are now going for more than $50 on ebay. More evidence that cassettes are back?

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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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

A still from the new Icky Blossoms' video.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Lupines (or, as I like to call them, The O’Leaver’s All-Stars) have three songs on Soundcloud for your review and reflection. “They’re fully tracked studio songs that the great Mark Wohlberg recorded at Plan C in Lincoln about 18 months ago,” said Lupines’ guitarist/vocalist John Ziegler. “I did all the tracks myself when it became more clear that Brimstone Howl was on its last legs. That’s why the drumming is very basic and sometimes slightly off, the former of which I really like.”

The rest of the Lupines are guitarist Mike Friedman (ex-Movies, member of Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men), bass player Mike Tulis (Monroes, Fullblown, Sons of ___, and the Third Men), and drummer Javid Dabestani (Ghost Runners, among others). “We’re working on proper, full-band recordings, some of which are the same songs and will sound pretty different, and will definitely have more ‘kinetic’ bounce than what I was able to make on my own,” Ziegler said. “Nonetheless, the songs on soundcloud right now are not basement tapes or demos, and I think they represent the sound of the band’s music well enough, as well as being a really good example of Mark Wohlberg’s analog perspicacity. They’re part of a nine-song session.”

Ziegler said release of the nine-song session is pending, and the band has a show Aug. 30 at the Barley Street Tavern. Until then, enjoy:

The Luplines, “I Blame Creation”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52232041″ iframe=”true” /]

The Lupines “Everlasting Man”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52231574″ iframe=”true” /]

The Lupines, “Ohio”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52230511″ iframe=”true” /]

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Icky Blossoms’ latest video is an epic love story realized to the song “Perfect Vision,” off their new album, which hits store shelves next Tuesday. You can check it out on Vimeo here. Wonder whose house got the demolished in the making of this modern masterpiece?

Also premiered this week was the new video by Capgun Coup for “Laugh Cry,” off their latest album Contextual Doom released on the ORG Music label.  Check it out here. Sweet!

* * *

This week’s Over the Edge column takes a look at the new HBO series The Newsroom — is it a drama or satire, and is wordy scripter Aaron Sorkin trying to influence the electorate a la Colbert/Stewart? You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader, or online right here.

* * *

Tonight’s show at The Waiting Room is one of the best $8 shows I’ve seen scheduled in a long time. Opening is InDreams, the psychedelic/dance/rock project of Icky Blossoms’ guitarist Nik Fackler, along with local legend Dereck Higgins, Ashley Miller, Sam Martin (Capgun Coup), Aaron Gum, Craig D (Tilly & the Wall), Kevin Donahue, and Mason Brown. With Icky blowing up all over the place, it’s good to see Nik keep his foot firmly planted in this project. Also opening is Atlanta’s Hollow Stars fronted by former Deerhunter guitarist Colin Mee and featuring David Matysiak (Coyote Bones), Devin Brown and Mason Brown. Finally, the headliners: R.Ring is Mike Montgomery of Ampline and Kelley Deal of The Breeders. After listening to one of their songs online, it’s safe to say this may be the closest we’ll ever get to seeing The Breeders live. $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, the Nebraska Pop Festival continues at The Barley Street Tavern with Union Specific (Austin), Orion Walsh (Lincoln), Chasing Shade (Iowa City), Seedlings (Des Moines), In Love (Omaha), and Elijah Jett (Michael Todd, the managing editor of Hear Nebraska). $7, 7:30 p.m. Check out the full schedule here.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Get ready for Contextual Doom.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It is with utter dissapointment that I fell asleep before heading out to The Waiting Room last night for the Antiquarium Subversion Showcase and seeing Capgun Coup. Though I can’t comment on their performance, I will say this about CC’s new album, Contextual Doom: It sounds like frontman/CC mastermind Sam Martin had an epiphany involving early Velvet Underground. The album, slated for release next month by ORG Music, has the same looking-through-a-dirty-window-on-the-Lower-East-Side feeling associated with, say, the VU & Nico album.

Half of the record involves laid-back “Sunday Morning” guitar riffs, tom-and-tambourine percussion and Martin’s own flat, seen-it-all-before vicodine-infused vocal delivery. It doesn’t get more slacker than on “My Bordumb Is Bored,” where Martin mumbles, seemingly with half-closed eyes, “I’m high as the ocean and my mind is commotion all my thoughts are unspoken and my heart it is broken…” The other half is garage ravers like “Claire Doesn’t Care,” which props up Martin’s lethargy like a dancing, twitching corpse. But even pumped up mothers like “Laugh/Cry” have a Velvet overlap — if you slowed the song by about 50 bpm you’d get something akin to “Heroin,” but with the lyrics, “Don’t it feel so good inside to have a good reason to cry? All your tears will dry.”

Martin is a musical enigma. He’s not so much Omaha’s version of Lou Reed as much as Omaha’s own Anton Newcombe — as unpredictable as he is talented, out there as much as out of control. And Capgun Coup is one of those bands that has a different life on vinyl than it has on stage. Their recordings (and no more than this one) are showcases for intelligent garage rock songwriting that nods knowingly toward the past while defining a better, if not slumped-shouldered, future. On stage, Capgun Coup is unpredictable — you never know what you’re going to get from gig to gig, which can vary from a taut, high-energy rock show to an extended, off-kilter caterwaul careening out of control. Whether triumphant or disappointing, they’re never boring. And neither is Martin, or for that matter, this album.

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For those keeping score at home, my latest column is in print and online right here at thereader.com and centers on the life and death disappointments of Game of Thrones. Check it.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The folks at Des Moines’ 80/35 Festival today announced their initial line-up for the July 6 and 7 event:

Friday, July 6 – The Avett Brothers, Dinosaur Jr., Freddie Gibbs, Fucked Up

Saturday, July 7 – Death Cab for Cutie, Leftover Salmon, Dan Deacon, Greensky Bluegrass, Leslie and the Ly’s, The Sundogs, Maxilla Blue, Mumford’s (and no, that’s not Mumford & Sons).

Avett Bros. and DCFC already are coming to our area. And we got J Mascis at MAHA last year. The rest of this rather blah lineup falls into the jam band/alt country/pop category, except for the highlight of their festival, Matador band Fucked Up, who I’d love to see come to Omaha, though I don’t think Red Sky/MAHA quite know how they’d explain the band’s name to their sponsors (Apparently U.S. Cellular, 80/35’s financiers, has no qualms about it, nor should they).

The press release says they’ve already sold out of “Early Bird and VIP” tickets. As for the rest:

Advance: $49 Two-Day, $29 One-Day
Regular: $65 Two-Day, $39 One-Day
Day of: $45 per day

80/35 says “many more exciting national, regional and local acts will be announced in early May.” Let’s hope so. Is this rather weak lineup more evidence of how difficult it is to book a festival these days, what with all the other bigger festivals going on in larger markets? Maybe. It also might be a reflection of a paradigm shift for bands, who used to make decent money off album sales. Now they depend more on performance income, and are getting it — higher demand means higher prices. More info at the 80/35 website.

* * *

They’re calling tonight’s show at The Waiting Room “The Antiquarium Subversive Showcase Vol. 1.” The line-up is huge — we’re talking five musical acts, a comedy group and a DJ. Headlining the subversion is Capgun Coup, who’s new album, Contextual Doom, is about to be released. Get a sneak preview tonight. Also on the bill: Noah Sterba and The Cocktails, Dads, Zach La Grou and The Romantic Poets, Comedy by DO IT WITH US, & Records by DJ Oddible. All for just $5. Show starts at 9.

Also tonight, another installment of The Record Club at the Shop at Saddle Creek. Tonight’s listening party features Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. The needle drops at 7 p.m., with discussion to follow. More info here.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A couple weeks ago, the folks at MAHA announced on their Facebook page that they’ve booked Stinson Park at Aksarben Village for the 2012 MAHA Music Festival, scheduled for Aug. 11. In addition to that, MAHA organizer Tre Brashear said they’ve already started sorting through the bands they’d like to book for the festival.

“We’ve got a tentative list started (always subject to change),” Brashear said, adding that the promoter will begin contacting the bands’  agents later this month. “(We’re) going to tell them, ‘Hey, we’d like to have you, so please let us know when you’re ready to start lining up your summer schedule.’ (We) want to get our interest established earlier than January, which is when we’ve started the last two years. Doesn’t mean we’ll be able to afford everyone on our wish list, but don’t know pricing or availability until you ask.”

Among the bands on their wish list: Death Cab for Cutie, Feist, Regina Spektor and Wilco, who would be the ultimate get. There are a lot of Wilco fans ’round these parts, and competition to get the band is going to be fierce.

Brashear said using Stinson Park again in 2012 was an “easy decision” because fan response to the venue was so overwhelmingly positive. I agree with them. Stinson Park is hands-down a better venue than Lewis & Clark Landing for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which are its central location and overall comfort — I’d much rather sit in grass than sit on pavement.

* * *
From Andrew Rossiter at Org Music:

“I came across your post about Capgun Coup signing to Org Music. It’s absolutely true, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them. Details about the new album release are still being confirmed, but it will definitely be out in 2012, and it’s fantastic. We haven’t posted anything official on our website, as we’re in the process of building a new one, which should be up in the next 3-4 weeks.”

Org’s signing of Capgun Coup is indeed a coup for a label that already counts 400 Blows among the bands on its roster.

Check out Capgun’s new video for “Claire Doesn’t Care” at YouTube.

* * *

Tonight at The Slowdown They Might Be Giants takes the stage with opener Gold Motel. The band is celebrating the release of its new 18-song album Join Us, and their 30th year of performances. $23, 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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

A sharp-eyed vinyl-loving Lazy-i reader wrote in to say that the next Capgun Coup album may be coming out on Org Records.

What’s Org? According to Org’s Facebook page, “Org Music is signed to Warner Bros Records and distributed through WEA (Warner Elektra Atlantic) and ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance). We are the official special projects label of the international Record Store Day campaign. We have a variety of marketing & sales, licensing & publishing, promotion & tour, manufacturing & distribution partners worldwide. We offer traditional multi format record deals with active artists, label services and distribution for artist related imprints as well as special project related joint ventures. We are also a catalog support label, having released the most important catalogs in modern music from label groups such as Warner Music Group, Sony Music, EMI, Beggars Banquet and the Universal Music Group.”

Org’s business includes vinyl reissues from bands like Nirvana, The Replacements, Failure, Sonic Youth, Teenage Fanclub and Beck, but they also do new releases from bands like 400 Blows (who just played at O’Leaver’s last week) and New York’s Caveman.  From their Facebook wall Oct. 3, Org posted: “We’re excited to announce our latest signing, Capgun Coup. Here’s a taste of the new record, coming in 2012…” with a link to “Claire Doesn’t Care.” (embedded below).

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/capgun-coup/claire-doesnt-care”]

I have yet to confirm this, however. There is no mention of Capgun Coup at orgmusic.com. And no mention of Org on the Capgun Coup Facebook page. In the past, Capgun Coup has released albums on Slumber Party Records and Team Love.

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Milagres plays expansive, spacial vibe music in that Beach House/Grizzly Bear style of dreamy, glowing indie rock. Their new album, Glowing Mouth, was released this year on Kill Rock Stars. The NYC band plays tonight at The Waiting Room with South of Lincoln. $8, 9 p.m. Check out Milagres’ sleepy title track, below:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/11215368″]

Also tonight…

What’s the deal with The Brothers Lounge? Is Tre getting back into the rock show business? Omaha’s favorite mid-town punk bar has shows scheduled for tonight AND tomorrow. Unheard of!

Tonight’s line-up at The Brothers features local heroes Baby Tears with Jealousy Mountain Duo (described as “German guitar drums spazz avant garde melodic noise..you may also CAN, MOGWAI, and JAZZ,” and Video Ranger. $5, 9 p.m. More info here.

Also tonight, Snake Island! is playing at The Barley Street, opening for Dan Tedesco, with Bradley Unit (and the Members). $5, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2011 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.

The Orange County Register has a nice review of The Good Life’s June 8 show at The Glass House, where the critic admonished his readers for not showing up at the gig. From the review: “The band was having a blast, with all members smiling ear-to-ear while covering Fleetwood Mac’s  ‘The Chain’ to close. Stephanie Drootin, very much in the family way, didn’t let her baby bump get in the way of some fast bass work and nimble keyboardistry.” Read the whole thing here.

That baby on board is obviously going to impact the band, as this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle today seems to indicate. Hyping tonight’s Good Life gig at Bottom of the Hill, the story warns: “Catch the longtime cowpoke in the Saddle Creek stable while you can: The combo claims these are the last Good Life shows for a good while.”

* * *

Speaking of shows tonight…

There’s a benefit concert for the organization Women for Women International tonight at Slowdown Jr. featuring Skypiper, Capgun Coup and Conchance. $7, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at O’Leaver’s, Landing on the Moon is headlining a show with Cloven Path and brand new band Students of Crime (whose first show in April was reviewed here). The students are led by legendary local punk rocker Robert Thornton (The Wagon Blasters, Now Archimedes!, Past Punchy and the Present, Culture Fire, Clayface Regular). $5, 9: 30 p.m.

The following came in the ol’ email this morning from Liz Lawson at deusexmachinapr:

“About a couple weeks ago, producer Steve LaBate (formerly of Paste Magazine) and director Scott Sloan, the filmmakers behind the upcoming documentary 40 Nights of Rock & Roll, were in town, where they were fortunate enough to watch one of Omaha’s best bands Capgun Coup.  You can watch a bit of the footage here: http://www.40nightsofrock.com/videos/119-day-20-omaha-capgun-coup.”

The filmmakers were apparently at a Capgun show at The Brothers’ Lounge, judging by the clip, which includes some footage of Sam Martin and Co. talking outside on the sidewalk — there’s no actual performance footage. It’s a strange clip. According to the project’s website, the filmmakers are trying to answer the burning question: “What’s the current state of rock & roll in America? Has true rock and roll been reduced to a few dark corners and dive bars? Are there modern rock bands that are ready to fill the arena-sized shoes of bands like AC/DC and Judas Priest?”

The publicist mentioned that the filmmakers recently interviewed Paul Westerberg and taped him performing a couple acoustic songs. “They’re just about done their road trip, but the hard work is still ahead of them, as they begin the editing process on the thousands of hours of film that they’ve collected, and start work on the companion book.” Will we ever actually see a finished film? Your guess is as good as mine…