The Whipkey Three at Stir at Harrah's, May 12, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’m looking over my notes from Friday night’s debut performance by Cooper Moon’s new band, Dark Wave, a band we’ve all heard about for months. Well, the build-up worked, as the Barley Street was respectfully packed with curious music lovers wondering what exactly Cooper and this other band, that includes Tom Barrett (also in DM), Chad Gregerson and Mike Ivers, have been up to.

The answers (for me, anyway) and general impressions were typed into my iPhone in the following order:

Deep, dark well.
Cooper strangling the mic.
Barrett’s keyboard = dark electronic.
First song pure Joy Division.
Bauhaus dance party.
S&M bondage club. Should be played in a black hole bar.
Kill the Christmas lights, kill all the lights.
Goth played by bikers. Biker goth.

Dead Wave at The Barley Street Tavern, 5/11/12.

Any time a new band hits the stage, the first thing anyone does is draw the inevitable comparisons. Mine included Joy Division, Bauhaus, Peter Murphy, The Chameleons and The Church, and on the opening song, Joy Division. I’m not sure why Barrett referenced The Jesus Lizard the other night. After the brief six-song set, one well-schooled local musician/music fan compared them to early Christian Death, which may be too poppy for this rather dark dance stew. That same person pointed out that the one cover song played during the set was a very obscure Echo and the Bunnymen song that Cooper told him had only been played once by John Peel and was never captured on a “session,” but rather was a bootleg recording that Cooper, an avid Bunnymen fan, just happens to have.

That’s enough background to give you an idea where this band is coming from. Other than the post-punk, goth metal inflections, the highlights were Barrett’s keyboard textures and Cooper’s vocals, which were more “musical” than his Dim Light vocals — more range and more sustained moments. Cooper cannot merely bark the lines with this stuff, he has to use his voice to provide another texture layer, and a rather course texture at that. It’s taken almost a year to get them to play one six-song set, which concerns me as other bands in similar situations disappeared after one show. Let’s hope that isn’t the case with Dead Wave.

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As Matt Whipkey said from the Stir “Live and Loud” stage Saturday night, I guess all the press worked, as the club was full during the opening of his two 45-minute sets, when he played many of the songs off his new LP, Two Truths, including personal favorite, “Maria.”

It was your typical Whipkey show, as Omaha’s best haircut made all the right moves to get his crowd of loyal followers (as well as a handful of hardcore gamblers) eating out of the palm of his hand.  In that context, he’s something of a throwback to a simpler time, before the advent of slumped-shouldered, indifferent indie hip-stars who go out of their way to ignore the audience with dollops of you’re-lucky-we’re-even-performing contempt. Whipkey, on the other hand, is the ultimate stage performer, not satisfied if even one crowd member isn’t “into it,” whether it’s on Stir’s tiny lounge stage or at Stir’s mammoth Concert Cove amphitheater. Whipkey was born for an arena, whether he ever makes it there or not.

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Tonight will be the fourth time that I’ve seen St. Vincent. The first time was at The Waiting Room in July 2007, where I said Annie Clark was going “to be bigger than PJ Harvey. Maybe bigger.” Two months later she played a solo set opening for The National on Slowdown’s big stage. The last time was almost two years ago on June 3, 2009, when Clark and her band played at Slowdown Jr. It was fantastic.

Tonight we get her again on the Slowdown big stage, this time with her band. No tix? That’s a shame, because tonight’s show is sold out. Opening is the amazing Shearwater, who has recorded for Misra, Matador and with their latest, Animal Joy (2011), Sub Pop. The fun starts at 9.

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by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Before we dive into the weekend, a big thank you to Conduits front woman Jenna Morrison for the sweet shout-out in her recent interview in Ghettoblaster Magazine (Check out the answer to No. 18). I think that’s the first time anyone has said something nice about the website in print! Keep a lookout for some Conduits performance news very, very soon…

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And now, the weekend…

I’ve been hearing about Dead Wave for what, over a year? The new band features among its players Cooper Moon and Tom Barrett of Dim Light. Between sets at Wednesday night’s TWR show, they told me that Dead Wave will finally make its stage debut tonight at The Barley Street Tavern. Their style: a cross between Joy Division and The Jesus Lizard, says Barrett. Now I got your attention. Also on the bill are Minnesota band Daymoths and Chromafrost (featuring Lincoln Dickison). Debuts are always special. Don’t miss this one. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Millions of Boys returns to O’Leaver’s stage for the first time since front woman Sara Bertuldo got back from a rather lengthy tour of duty with Conduits when that band opened for Cursive on their last tour.  Also on the card, Everyday/Everynight, Love Songs for Lonely Monsters and Howard. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday night’s big event is The Whipkey Three CD release show at Stir Live and Loud at Harrah’s in Council Bluffs. Opening is The Big Deep. $7, 9 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Landing on the Moon plays at fabulous O’Leaver’s with The Kickback and The Seen. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Barley Street, Snake Island plays with Madison band Tiny Riots. $5, 9 p.m.

And then Sunday night it’s the return of Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, with Dinosaur Feathers and Whispertown, featuring Omaha expat Jake Bellows (Neva Dinova). Whispertown’s front woman is featured in a funny new video on Will Ferrells Funny or Die website called “Get to Know…Morgan Nagler,” that also features a lot of familiar faces, including one Omaha golden boy. Check the out video here and make sure you rate it “Funny.” $12, 9 p.m.

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