Dumb Beach at O’Leaver’s, Feb. 21, 2015. The band returns to O’Leaver’s tonight.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We can all rest a little easier knowing that the British people now know about O’Leaver’s. And The Waiting Room. And The Barley Street. And Duffy’s…

About a month ago, an editor from British Airways online publications reached out and asked me to write 500 to 600 words about the fabled Nebraska music scene, listing the music venues for Brits to visit while in Nebraska. It’s part of their “50 States in 52 Weeks” series featured on British Air’s High Life website (an amazingly appropriate name considering the patrons who hang out at our clubs). A bunch of bands are name-checked, too…

The British Airways piece went online a few days ago; you can read it here. Note: I wasn’t  involved in the page layout, design or photo selection.

NOTE TO webmasters of the clubs’ websites: Brace yourselves for the torrential traffic wave bound to hit your servers at any moment…

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Calm Fur, the latest project fronted by Jason Meyer (Talking Mountain) has a new four-song EP out today called The Collection of Human Energy to be Used for Evil.

Sez Meyer: “We just played Denver Psych Fest and this was a little EP we put together just for that. Minimal physical copies exist, along with minimal fanfare for release. We’re working on a proper record and sort of treating this as a… demo. A sneak. A peek.”

Calm Fur is playing Duffy’s backlot show on Aug. 29 with Deerpeople and Universe Contest before going into hibernation to finish their new record. Check out the EP below…

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Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s the return of Dumb Beach. They open for Brooklyn garage rock trio Sharkmuffin and New Yorkers Lost Boy? $5, 9:30 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Matt Whipkey circa 2005. Whips and his band play tonight at The Waiting Room.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

And so, the weekend.

The show getting the most press is tonight’s release party for Matt Whipkey’s new self-released album, Underwater, at The Waiting Room. Is there a media outlet that Matt hasn’t either been interviewed by or appeared on over the past couple weeks? I think not. Add to that all the people who took part in his Kickstarter campaign and there’s bound to be a big crowd at TWR. Kait Berreckman Band opens at 9 p.m., then Whipkey and his band take the stage, followed by John Klemmensen and the Party. $8.

Also tonight, Saturn Moth headlines at fabulous O’Leaver’s with Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and Timecat. This is the first Noah’s Ark show in quite a while. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Here’s some Noah’s Ark from 2008:

Saturday night it’s back to O’Leaver’s for one of my local faves, Dumb Beach. They’re opening for Fire Retarded, an act made up of members of Giant People, The New Years Gang and The Hussy. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Also Saturday night See Through Dresses plays at Reverb Lounge with Eric in Outerspace. Drinking associated with Beer Week starts at 6 p.m. Bands start at 9:30 and the show is absolutely FREE.

Finally Sunday night Dana Point, California band The Growlers play at The Waiting Room. Their sound has been called “Beach Goth” and psychedelic surf rock. They’ve released stuff on Burger Records, though their latest album, Chinese Fountain, was released on Ever-loving Records. American Culture opens 9 p.m $13.

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

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Icky Blossoms at Take Cover IV, The Waiting Room, Jan. 23, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The 4th Annual Take Cover benefit for Hear Nebraska at The Waiting Room Friday night appeared to be a smashing success. At least there were a ton of people there when I arrive at a quarter to 10, just in time to see members of Icky Blossoms squatting down on the stage performing a stripped down version of “Burn Rubber,” a track presumably off their upcoming Saddle Creek Records release. It was followed by a funky cover of a Capgun Coup song.

That was the recipe for the evening: One original tune, one cover by another local artist. Unlike year’s past, I actually recognize a lot of the covers, or at least some of them. As mentioned before, the Take Cover effect can be rather weak when you don’t know the person performing or the band he or she is covering. That wasn’t a problem for Matt Whipkey as he covered Simon Joyner ( “Double Joe”), See Through Dresses covering Little Brazil (“God” off 2009’s Son), Dan McCarthy covering Conor Oberst (“Common Knowledge” off Upside Down Mountain) and most successful of all, John Klemmensen and the Party covering Bright Eyes’ “Four Winds.” You could argue that JK’s version, complete with accordion, was as good as Conor’s. It was a great way to close out an evening of fun and fellowship.

Bahamas at Reverb Lounge, Jan. 24, 2015.

There’s still a market for simple song craft, judging by the sold-out audience that showed up for Bahamas last Saturday night at Reverb Lounge. At the heart of the band is singer/songwriter Afie Jurvanen, an indie music veteran whose tours of duty include a stint with Feist. Standing center stage backed by a second guitarist, drummer and backing vocalist, Jurvanen played a set of simple acoustic ballads and laid-back rockers reminiscent of beachy acts like Jack Johnson.

The live setting stripped out the more intricate production heard on Bahamas’ last record, much to my chagrin, leaving little in the way of variety. No doubt he’s a talented dude with a knack for hooks, but a little goes a long way and halfway through the set (just after he began a mid-set solo-acoustic section, where he did his best story-teller riff about the last time he came to Omaha 10 years ago and got stoned on Ecstasy) I began looking for the door. I never made it to what was probably his set closer or encore — “All the Time” — the soundtrack to that James Franco Motorola commercial. I bet the crowd went wild.

Bass Drum of Death at Sweatshop Gallery, Jan. 24, 2015.

The reason I charged out before the end was to catch a show at Sweatshop Gallery. I made my way through the maze of slouched smokers and poorly parked vehicles in the back lot to enter the jam-packed garage-turned-music-venue. I don’t know if it was a sell out, but it was crowded enough to get me wondering if that overhead door was functional in case of a fire.

The highlight of the evening (and of my weekend) was a fiery set by Dumb Beach. I’ve seen these guys a couple times at O’Leaver’s, but they’ve never sounded this good or this inspired. Their style combines modern garage (think Digital Leather without synths) with heavy metal (the most ferocious moments from Neil Young/Crazyhorse). It was a fantastic set that had the room moving.

It was followed by Bass Drum of Death, who owe a lot of their style to The Ramones, though the trio had enough versatility to change up their sound from song to song. Good stuff.

It was a real 180 going from Reverb, with its high-tech sound board and digital lighting, to Sweatshop’s four screwed-in colored light bulbs and micro mix station. The contrast was almost as stark as the one between Bahamas and Bass Drum of Death. Who says there isn’t variety in Benson?

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As of this writing (noon) tickets were still available for tonight’s Mark Kozelek show at Vega in Lincoln, though the venue warns that they are in short supply. If you have a chance to go, you should. Kozelek provided my favorite moment at last years South By Southwest Festival. Benji, Sun Kil Moon’s last album, was my favorite for 2014. You cannot go wrong. $20 tickets are available here (for now). The show starts at 9.

Also tonight, at Pageturners, Omaha singer/songwriter Mitch Gettman plays his last local show before moving away, again. Gettman said he’s headed to Leavenworth, Kansas, to live with his pop in an effort to save cash for his big move to New York City this summer. Gettman says he’s doing it for the challenge. You know what they say about people who can make it there… Custom Catacombs opens. 9 p.m. and free (as far as I know).

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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.

Simon Joyner and the Ghosts at Benson Days, July 27,2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The only aspect of Benson Days in which I partook in was the beer garden/band stage. Instead of the usual setting on Military Ave just outside of Jake’s, the stage was set up on 62nd St., right in front of the old “building and loan” and just east of Jane’s. It’s a good location, with park benches and plenty of trees and just enough space for Jake’s booze tent. The fact that it was so much smaller than the Military Ave. stage area was a plus in that it brought the crowd closer together.

Dumb Beach at Benson Days, July 27,2013.

Another plus: The smaller space made for better sound. I have no idea who was in charge of that aspect of the show, or for that matter, who booked the day stage, but both did a good job. I got there late in the day, just in time to see Dumb Beach plug in and tear it up with their gritty, brutal style of garage rock. The band formerly known as Peace of Shit has pushed its way toward the top of my list, as sort of an Omaha all-star collection of garage rock glitterati led by Austin Ulmer.

They were followed by Simon Joyner and the Ghosts. Joyner has surrounded himself with his own all-star cast, among them old reliable Mike Friedman on pedal steel and Omaha legend Dave Goldberg on keys. The group was rounded out by a fiddle player, a bassist and a guy on kettle drum/snare. The result was raucous yet tuneful versions of songs like set opener “Vertigo” and “If I Left Tomorrow,” both from Simon’s latest album Ghosts.

As the set wore on we wandered out of the beer garden looking for food, but by 7 or so, Maple Street had become a blocked-off ghost town. I guess you had to get there early to get in on food booths…or maybe there weren’t any. I noticed a food truck parked nearby, but it was closed. We ended up (as always) at Pizza Shoppe, which I’m happy to report has really turned it around service-wise. Was a time when it would take a half hour just to get your order in; these days PS has the best food service in Benson, and their pizza’s pretty good, too.

That’s it for my weekend. This pestilence that I mentioned last Friday continues to have me in its grip, which meant no night shows last weekend…

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That same pestilence will likely keep me away form O’Leaver’s tonight where Pleasure Adapter and Touch People will be hosting their tour send-off. And guess what: It’s free. Show starts at 9:30.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Dumb Beach at O’Leaver’s, May 11, 2013

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’m oh-for-two for being on the list for national shows. The first oh came at that Polica show a couple weeks ago. The publicist for opener Night Moves was supposed to handle it. Nothing. And then this past Friday the publicist for Black Pus left me high in dry. Mortifying. In both instances, I got in out of the goodness of the club.

VietNam at Slowdown Jr., May 10, 2013.

So needless to say, I don’t feel bad about missing Black Pus’ set, though I was told it sounded like Lightning Bolt, the band that BP’s Brian Chippendale drums in, and that would have been something to see and hear. Instead, I got to Slowdown just in time for VietNam. Described as singer/songwriter Michael Gerner’s project, the essence of their sound is a culmination of all seven band members. That’s right, seven — two guitars, fiddle, bass, Moog and two drummers.

Whenever I hear a band has two drummers, I prepare for either World Music or psychedelic. Friday night it was the latter, in spades. In fact VietNam is the purest form of drug music music I’ve heard in a long time. That fiddle provided a layer of scratchy, droning feedback that cast the proceedings in sonic tones, like a red handkerchief thrown over a lampshade. But this wasn’t some sort of slow-drone Floyd-ish psycho head game. More like the kind of music you imagine playing in the background while on the run after a deal gone bad just outside of Bakersfield on a summer day in 1972, a day that never ends viewed through the filter of over saturated 70 mm film stock. Chugging, hot, on-the-run rock music with no place to hide. This band would be fun to see on a big outdoor stage (just outside of Bethel, NY) sitting in a field surrounded by 100,000 people. Can Gerner bring this energy to VietNam’s upcoming recordings? Wait and see.

Laughing Falcon at O’Leaver’s May 11, 2013.

Saturday night was another O’Leaver’s night. Lots of folks there to see the reincarnation of Peace of Shit in the form of new band Dumb Beach. I got there just in time to hear the last five minutes of unbridled roar from Dim Light, a band that has reemerged with obvious new energy. I didn’t know much about the next band, Lincoln’s Laughing Falcon, and expected even less. Instead I was pleasantly surprised.

As one guy told me Saturday night, metal is metal, and Laughing Eagle is indeed metal, but of a more palatable strain than the dumbed-down goon rock heard at Rock Fest this past weekend. Laughing Falcon heralds back to the days of Judas Priest, Sabbath, all the way back to Deep Purple and as current as Early Man. But despite referential riffs, the four-piece brought something modern to this rather tattered fight club. It’s not so much angry as energetic, though afterward, you’ll feel like kicking someone’s head in.

The main event, of course, was Dumb Beach, the latest brainchild of frontman Austin Ulmer, and by far his best. Ulmer has surrounded himself with some of the best up-and-coming talent in town, including drummer Jeff Lambelet (Digital Leather), guitarist Ethan Jones (Baby Tears, ex-Ladyfinger), a second guitarist who I’ve seen in a couple other bands whose name I do not know, and secret weapon smiling Dave Hansen (Worried Mothers) on bass. The resulting roar is more straight-forward and “poppy” than Peace of Shit, with songs reminiscent of Digital Leather during that band’s three-piece punk years. They were at their best when playing the fast, heavy stuff vs. the slower songs (though you’ve got to have that contrast to give the highs their highs). Ulmer is at the center of it all with guitar and howl, bare boned, raw, he’s a working man’s frontman, a no-nonsense Midwestern garage punk with an obvious knack for riff and melody and violent noise.

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Everyone thought that Adam Hawkins’ last project, It’s True, was going to break through and get signed, but it was not to be. Hawkins got married, had a kid and now lives somewhere other than Omaha, though he’s far from forgotten by the Benson crowd who once called him their own.

Now comes word that Hawkins’ new project with his wife, Katy Sleeveless, called Eros and Eschaton, has been signed by Bar/None Records. Bar/None has been around since way back in 1986. Among the bands that got their first break from Bar/None are Yo La Tengo, Freedy Johnston, They Might Be Giants, Poi Dog Pondering and even our very own Lullaby for the Working Class.

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Believe it or not, tonight’s Thermals’ show at Slowdown Jr. has yet to sell out — surprising considering the band’s past history and the hype behind their Saddle Creek Records’ debut Desperate Ground. Opening is another hot band, Pleasure Adapter, who I’m told will have a new cassette available at tonight’s show. $12, 9 p.m.

By the way, I’m supposed to be on the list for this one. Let’s see what happens.

Also tonight… Jiha Lee was a member of Bright Eyes and at the center of Saddle Creek music scene when it was just emerging in the early 2000s . And then, she just seemed to disappear. Well, she’s back tonight at Pageturners, performing with another ’00s veteran Fizzle Like a Flood a.k.a. Doug Kabourek. Show starts at 9 and is absolutely free.

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lee Meyerpeter and Josh Dunwoody at Take Cover Omaha, Vol. 2, at The Sydney, Jan. 18, 2013.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Nearly 300 people paid $5 to attend a Take Cover show this past weekend. Omaha drew the best crowd, with nearly 200 paid at The Sydney Friday night, and if you were there, you could feel it. Crush mob. I showed up about halfway through the evening’s line-up, just in time to catch the Lee Meyerpeter & Josh Dunwoody (of The Filter Kings) and Landon Hedges (of Little Brazil) do their one original/one cover. The Filter Kings’ dudes covered a Killigans’ tune, while Landon took on a Lullaby for the Working Class song. The crowd dug them both and so did I, but by the end of Landon’s song I was feeling pretty claustrophobic…

The final tally was nearly $2,000 raised for Hear Nebraska to help support their mission, which is pretty simple: To make the state a globally recognized cultural destination. Hear Nebraska’s only job is to support Nebraska music. That’s it. If you’re in a local band, or just love local music, get your ass behind the HN cause. If you didn’t get a chance to drop in at either showcase, you can still donate $5 (or more) by going to the Hear Nebraska donation page and making a donation. You can even do it using PayPal — just designate the payment to Hear Nebraska, Inc. How simple is that?

Or if you’d rather get a tchotchke in return for your donation, go to the Hear Nebraska store and buy one of their fancy new T-shirts or a koozy. Do it.

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The only thing else to report on this quiet MLK Day is that everyone’s favorite band of degenerates, Peace of Shit, has decided to change its name to something I guess they think is much less offensive: Dumb Beach.

Dumb Beach frontman Austin Ulmer confirmed that the name change is no joke. He said they may play a few remaining smaller shows under the old Peace of Shit moniker, but after that, look for Dumb Beach on the gig calendars. I’m trying to talk him into playing one final show as Peace of Shit — a heart-rending farewell performance that would rival The Last Waltz. Why not? It worked for Sun Settings…

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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 © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.