Sam Martin at O’Leaver’s Jan. 29, 2016. He opens for Triathalon tonight at O’Leaver’s.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We all talk about influential records we owned growing up or when we were gaining our critical footing, figuring out what we like and don’t like (that is, if you were able to form your own opinions without being brainwashed by radio or television, which very few people are). One of those records for me was the original motion picture soundtrack to the film Athens, GA – Inside Out. I bought the record from a cut-out bin having never heard of the movie but recognizing a few of the bands listed on the album sleeve, specifically R.E.M. and Pylon.

It was through that record, which was released in 1987, that I was introduced to The Squalls, Flat Duo Jets, Love Tractor, Time Toy, Bar-B-Que Killers and The Kilkenny Cats. But what I enjoyed most about the record was that it was recorded live at venues throughout Athens. You got a snap-shot of what the scene must have been like during its short-lived hey-day.

Live at DBA, Start Your Own Fucking Show Space (2016, Famous Class)

Nearly 30 years later, along comes the three-record set called Start Your Own Fucking Show Space, Live at DBA — or as it was more affectionately known, Death By Audio, a warehouse space in Williamsburg founded in 2007 by Oliver Ackermann of the band A Place to Bury Strangers. DBA hosted more than 1,800 shows before it was evicted by Vice Media in November 2014, effectively ending an era. But before it ended, DBA hosted a month of shows whose recordings make up this album.

Omaha music fans will recognize a lot of the included artists because they’ve also played at places around town like O’Leaver’s, 1% Productions spaces, Sweatshop, house shows or DIY spaces. Among the bands are Parquet Courts, Deerhoof, Pujol, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Screaming Females, Don Deacon, Ty Segall, Future Islands, Metz, Nots, Protomartyr, Jeff: The Brotherhood, Lightning Bolt, as well as some bands I didn’t recognize like Pampers, Shellshag, the Numerators, Downtown Boys, Coasting w/ Patty Conway, Natural Child, Sleepies and Grooms.

The album’s 26 tracks not only document DBA but also an underground indie-garage-noise scene that flourished in small venues throughout the past decade. Every song is a keeper and the massive vinyl set, released by Famous Class Records, is bound to be this generation’s Inside Out. Rating: Yes.

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BTW, I could see Live at O’Leaver’s releasing a similar album as Live at DBA. Get on it, Ian.

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Speaking of O’Leaver’s, tonight they have an epic show headlined by Eric in Outspace, with Sam Adam Martin and road band Triathalon — a wicked little indie R&B/surf-pop-flavored five piece from Savannah, GA., whose new EP, Cold Shower, comes out Sept. 16 on Broken Circles Records. $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 © 2016 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.