Eros and the Eschaton at Reverb Lounge, Sept. 16, 2016.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It must be a pleasure for local musicians and bands who have moved away to return to their homes on tour and see all their comrades again. No doubt that was the case Friday night at Reverb for Adam Hawkins when his band, Eros and the Eschaton, played a sort of homecoming show.

With old friends scattered in the audience, Hawkins and his crew rifled through a deep selection from the band’s new album, Weight of Matter (2016, Bar None), closing with my two favorites from the recording: The spacey, floating “Center of the World” (wherein I could have sworn Hawkins changed the lyric on the main line of the song) and the brazen, post-punk burner “Rxx” that highlights co-frontperson Kate Perdoni barking out the staccato lines in all her feral glory.

Here’s a band that changes your perception of them when they perform live. Like, for example, Hawkins sang a lot more of the leads than I thought he did on the album. You could argue he has a higher voice than Perdoni. I also was impressed at the amount of guitar work Perdoni performed, spending a lot of time kneeling down, bending her strings alongside a bank of foot pedals.

I also learned (I think) how bands create that underwater, shimmy guitar sound so prominent on My Bloody Valentine albums. Hawkins grasped his whammy bar the entire time he stroked that guitar, which I assume constantly loosens and tightens the strings, causing that uneasy, drunken shimmy effect. Or maybe not. I’ll let the guitarists chime in to clarify. A final surprise was how little Hawkins and Perdoni harmonized — a lot of the harmonies were provided by the keyboard player.

Now a full band (including a dynamic drummer) Eros and the Eschaton have evolved beyond the duo-centric performance I saw a few years back. The band wraps up this tour tomorrow night in Chicago before heading out East again in a few weeks, closing out the tour with a gig at Cake Shop in Manhattan. Here’s hoping a solid album and all this touring helps them break through the waves.

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Culture site vulture.com this morning posted a lengthy feature on Conor Oberst that also appeared in the September issue of New York magazine. In it, Oberst recaps the last year or so of his life in Omaha, as well as the years leading up to it, including his health scare and rape allegation bullshit that turned his world upside down. You get a snapshot of what it’s like in La Casa Oberst as well as a sense that Omaha represented a necessary healing environment amidst a time of chaos. It’s an interesting read.

The article precedes the Oct. 14 release of his next solo album, Ruminations, which comes out on Nonesuch, as well as the release of the massive Bright Eyes box set, which was slated for release by Saddle Creek Records last Friday but has apparently been pushed back (due to manufacturing delays) until Oct. 21.

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There’s a couple hot shows happening tonight…

At fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s the return of Baltimore duo Dog Party (Asian Man, Burger Records).  Joining them are fellow Baltimore-ites Wing Dam, Every Goddess Wanted and Muscle Cousins (the Matz brood of Andy, Mari and Collin). $7, 8 p.m.

Also tonight, classic Bay Area punk band Swingin’ Utters (Fat Wreck Chords) plays at Lookout Lounge with Lincoln’s The Killigans and our very own Hand Painted Police Car. $12, 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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Eros and Eschaton at Slowdown Jr., Sept. 22, 2013. The band plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Colorado Springs shoe-gaze band Eros and the Eschaton got its start right here in Omaha. At its core are former Omahans Kate Perdoni and Adam Hawkins. Hawkins used to be a regular on the local club circuit, playing under the name It’s True. Perdoni and Hawkins joined forces in 2012, and then hit the road to Greensboro, North Carolina, before releasing their debut album, Home Address For Civil War (2013, Bar None), a record that earned 3.5 starts from All Music, which called it a “warm, delirious product of two creative souls deeply in love.” Awww….

Three years later and Eros and the Eschaton now live in Colorado Springs, have expanded to a five-piece band and just released their sophomore album, Weight of Matter (2016, Bar None), which is just as shoe-gazey and ethereal as the debut without ever losing sight of its gorgeous melodies.  Although there are moments of rhythm and grit, at its core Weight is a collection of hazy, cloud-covered tunes that you might hear in the background when you’re about to enter those pearly gates.

We caught up with Eros and the Eschaton’s Adam Hawkins, who graciously answered my Ten Questions survey. And since he’s a former Omahan, he qualified for the bonus round.

What is your favorite album?

Adam Hawkins: Right now it’s a tie between Electric Warrior and The Slider.

2. What is your least favorite song?

“My Brother Thinks He’s A Banana”

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

I love my fat Spotify checks. I almost have enough to replace the hood on my 2000 Toyota Avalon.

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

Interviews

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

2% milk

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

All of them, unless they suck.

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

Kearney. I also played great shows there, but this particular door was the worst. I was playing solo. It was a packed show. I was just starting out. I started playing and nobody cared. Usually you at least get a minute or so where everyone quiets down before starting their conversations again. But I said, ‘My name is Adam Hawkins, and I am It’s True,’ and nobody even turned to the stage. Nobody even gave me a courtesy clap after any song. After the third song I threw my guitar across the stage and just screamed the lyrics to the rest of my songs.

8. How do you pay your bills?

I record bands and make pizza.

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

At one point, I was considering going to school to be a counselor. I couldn’t do the nurse thing. Too much poop and blood.

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?

I’ve heard some things

Bonus Round:

11. What do you miss most about Omaha?

I miss my buddies. Although most of them don’t live their anymore. I miss the music scene. I miss having so many cool places to play shows and go to shows.

12. What don’t you miss about Omaha?

I don’t miss playing a show on Husker game day.

13. What was the best part about making Weight Of Matter?

The la Croix.

14. What was the toughest part about making Weight of Matter?

la Croix ain’t cheap.

15. What do you hope to bump into when you return to Omaha and what are you going to tell him/her?

There are too many to list. I’m hoping to see as many of my old buddies as possible so I can pretend I don’t recognize them.

Eros and the Eschaton plays with Lonely Estates and Edison & the Elephant Friday, Sept. 16, at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Tickets are $8; showtime is 9 p.m. For more information, go to onepercentproductions.com.

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Eros and the Eschaton is the highlight of a very sparse weekend show-wise.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) you’ve got a big emo show at The Waiting Room featuring Taking Back Sunday and You Blew It! It’s $35 Adv/$40 DOS and starts at 8 p.m.

Sunday night Cali psych/garage band The Growlers are playing at The Waiting Room. The band’s new album, City Club (2016, Cult Records) was co-produced by Julian Casablancas (The Strokes and founder of Cult Records) and Shawn Everett (this year’s Grammy Award winner for his work with Alabama Shakes). This show lists no openers. Not sure what the deal is. $15, 9 p.m.

And 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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Eros and the Eschaton, Home Address for Civil War (Bar/None)

A head’s up on this new Eros and the Eschaton album, Home Address for Civil War. This new record sounds nothing like the last one from It’s True, the band that E&E member Adam Hawkins used to front. Now with wife Katey Perdoni (a.k.a. Sleeveless) the new record takes Hawkins’ and Perdoni’s melodies and drapes them in dense layers of Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain fuzz. We’re talking deeply atmospheric, intensely trippy grinding rock that’s not afraid of brash, creative guitar noise. The record comes out Aug. 13 on Bar/None, while the band visits Slowdown Jr. Sept. 22. You’ve been warned… and invited.

I don’t know what “Eros and the Eschaton” means, by the way. Wiki says Eschaton means “end of times,” which sounds very appropriate for their brand of rock. Actually, I’m not sure how to even pronounce Eschaton.

Pronunciations could also be a problem for oquoa. That’s the name of the new project by former Conduits members Roger Lewis and J.J. Idt, and frontman Max Holmquist (ex-Great American Desert). The band has been whispered about for months, with word leaking out that their new recording will be stellar. And now they’ve just announced their first public gig, Aug. 23 at O’Leaver’s with Electric Chamber Music.

The show’s Facebook listing says “oquoa (o’ko’uh)”. Maybe the pronunciation is actually part of the band’s name… So what’s it mean? Look it up in The Google and you’ll get back… nothing. How very mysterious.

BTW, I think it may be safe to say that Conduits has sailed into the sunset, though the band never made it official.

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Sweatshop Gallery in Benson is hosting Seattle garage rockers La Luz (Burger Records, Suicide Squeeze) tonight, with local guys Adult Films and the amazing duo called Killer Blow. Great show at the “nice price” of just $5. 9 p.m. All ages!

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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.