Speedy Ortiz dropped a new single and is coming to The Slowdown in November.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Making a go of it as an indie band has never been easy. Even in the heyday in the early 2000s, young bands who wanted to break through to the next level had to commit to spending a lot of time on the road, playing to small crowds in venues that ranged from your typical local music club to someone’s basement. 

Three weeks ago, Saddle Creek Records’ latest roster addition, Feeble Little Horse, celebrated the release of their Creek debut, Girl with Fish. Pitchfork gave the album its illustrious “Best New Music” designation and a startling 8.2 rating, calling it a “richly textured album full of fuzzy melodic hooks and beguiling left turns.” Sirius XMU began to play the first single, “Steamroller” on high heat rotation. 

Everything was setting up well for their just-announced month-long tour and the inevitable world conquest, and then late last week the band posted on Instagram that they had cancelled all the dates. 

“we were so excited and this tour meant the world to us. we have been blown away by all the recent support we have received but for now we have to take a step back and reassess our little world for our continued health. we are really sorry if this has a negative impact on anyone’s best summer ever plans it definitely is lame for us as well. right now, we are letting the horse get a good night’s sleep.”

Among the thank you’s was one for Saddle Creek Records: “thank you @saddlecreek for carrying us to heights we never imagined.” There have been no further FLH posts, and who knows what happened, but in this new age when people are now recognizing their health needs (mental or otherwise) and taking the necessary actions, the band seems to have wisely pulled their hand away from the fire when the flame is at its highest. Hopefully they’ll be back on the road soon and will remember Omaha as a tour stop. 

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Philly band Speedy Ortiz dropped a new single and video yesterday from their upcoming album, Rabbit Rabbit, out Sept. 1 on Wax Nine Records. They also announced a tour that will bring them to The Slowdown Nov. 17 (OMG, summer will be in our rear view mirrors by then). Check it:

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Omaha’s Ebba Rose a.k.a. Erin Mitchell and 2023 Maha Festival performer, celebrates the release of her new album tonight at Reverb Lounge. The four-band bill includes Cowgirl Eastern, BB Sledge and Trees with Eyes. $15, 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

An addendum to The Reader column about Saddle Creek Records recent releases…. there are a few artists off their recent roster who weren’t mentioned because they’ve been relatively dormant. Among them is Black Belt Eagle Scout, the project of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community-based multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul. Creek released a new single by BBES yesterday, “My Blood Runs Through This Land,” and announced a new LP out Feb. 10, 2023, which you can pre-order now. Psst… I actually like the second track, “Don’t Give Up,” (not to be confused with the Peter Gabriel song (but wouldn’t a cover of that be something)), more. Nothing like closing out your LP with a strong track. 

Saddle Creek’s most recent signing, Pittsburgh’s Feeble Little House, just got a review of the re-release of their debut album, Heyday, at Pitchfork, which said, “The Pittsburgh rock quartet’s newly reissued debut is a relentless, intentionally chaotic document of twentysomething existential dread.” Chaotic? Maybe not so much. Definitely a throw-back sound to ‘90s indie acts like Helium or even Chavez (yeah, I said it). The Pitchfork rating was 7.4, btw, which is high for a Saddle Creek release, but I’m finding that Pitchfork likes this era of Saddle Creek a whole lot more than they liked the first wave (and definitely the second Saddle Creek wave). 

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Tonight at Reverb Lounge Aussie indie act The Murlocs headlines. The band has been recording and touring for a decade. Their latest, Rapscallion, was released in September on ATO Records.  Their sound has been described as “neo-psychedelia” but is closer to straight-on jangle-pop. Montreal singer/songwriter Paul Jacobs, who has been compared to Kurt Vile, opens at 8 p.m. $17.

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I’m trying to think of really interesting things going on indie-music-wise in Omaha and there just haven’t been any. It’s as if the city is in a dormant period.

That said, our hometown label, Saddle Creek Records, just signed yet another band, Philadelphia noise-pop four-piece Feeble Little Horse. Saddle Creek is re-releasing their debut album, Heyday, which came out last year. 

The band, formed in Oakland, PA, in 2021, described their sound in an interview from Pittsburgh radio station WYEP:

How do you describe your sound?  

• Sebastian Kinsler, guitar/vocals: We don’t use reverb, we don’t hard pan guitars, and we double track everything.
• Lydia Slocum, vocals: It’s like we took our favorite songs and put them in the Sebastian blender. I think the sound is super influenced by the music we like and then what the four of us are each exclusively able to contribute.
• Jake Kelley, drums: noise pop 

When asked what was the first album that “really changed your life,” three of the four members referenced a Green Day album (one referenced High School Musical 2 soundtrack). This is ironic because they (thankfully) sound nothing like Green Day. 

As mentioned, their debut LP was originally released on Philly community label Julia’s War Records, but the band also released a 10-song EP called Modern Tourism in March on local label Crafted Sounds Records. 

The rerelease of Heyday comes out on Jan. 13 (and includes bonus tracks), but no doubt new original material won’t be far behind. Here’s the first video from that album. It sounds much more influenced by Sonic Youth than Green Day. The full album and EP are already online at Spotify. 

By the way, my Novermber column in The Reader looks at Saddle Creek’s 2022 output (minus Feeble Little Horse). I’ll link to it when it’s online. Saddle Creek is 29 years old this year. What fun do they have in store for their 30th birthday?

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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 © 2022 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.