by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Something from the Lazy-i vault today in honor of #TBT…

… but before we get to that, whatever happened to The Jealous Sound? I interviewed the band three years after the show reviewed below. That story (which you can read here) was written in support of another Sokol Underground gig May 9, 2004, with Mr. 1986 and Criteria. Jealous Sound frontman Blair Shehan went into great detail about missteps taken over the previous three years, including getting signed by a major label that got acquired by another major and then leaving the contract only to release their follow-up album on the indie label they started with – Better Looking Records.

A glance at their Wiki profile indicates that stops, starts and detours would plague the band for years to come, with Shehan quitting unexpectedly only to return two years later, recording sessions that would go on for weeks (months?), lots of soul-searching and the band’s eventual break-up after releasing their third album, A Gentle Reminder, in 2012. They officially called it quits in 2017. 

A Google search reveals Shehan’s LinkedIn page, which indicates he now makes a living as an account executive at TOCO Warranty in Los Angeles. Rock ‘n’ roll. Here’s hoping for a Knapsack reunion in the near future…

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Live Review: The Jealous Sound / The Gloria Record

March 2, 2001

Sokol Underground, Omaha

“Whoever heard of a band with seven songs headlining? Oh well, it’s all good.”

And it was last Friday night for the 170 who braved the teen-laden crowds outside the Sokol Underground where Blair Shehan and his band, The Jealous Sound, topped a bill that also included The Gloria Record and The And/Ors.

Yes, there were a lot of teens at the Underground show, but most of them were upstairs at the Sokol Auditorium where O-Town was doing their usual choreographed song and dance routine. The parking lot adjacent to the hall was crammed with (by my count) three huge, gleaming rock-and-roll tour buses suitable for the likes of The Rolling Stones or U2. Meanwhile sandwiched on the sidewalk was one of the Underground band’s badly soiled, rusty conversion vans, suitable for the likes of a homeless family or ’70s-era drug dealer.

I arrived late, just in time to see the parade of minivans and Taurus wagons bumper-to-bumper picking up the kids after the O-Town show as if the 3 o’clock bell just rang outside of your neighborhood junior high. For the uninitiated, O-Town is a television-created boy-group that’s on a national tour supporting their sassy new nationally embraced CD.

Meanwhile, in the basement of the Sokol Auditorium, a veritable feast of indie rock was in full bloom. I missed the And/Ors’ set, but was in time for The Gloria Record only to find out that the band’s drummer, Brian Malone, has been called home due to a death in the family. The rest of the band soldiered on, performing a set of what sounded like new material, most of it long-form ethereal acoustic ballads with singer Chris Simpson’s cracking voice trying to carry the day. The performance was low-key, perhaps too much so. The band ended its set with a rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” that seemed appropriate for the overall downbeat feel of the performance.

Then came the Jealous Sound, with its blinding, pounding yet infectiously catchy rock. The four-piece, headed by ex-Knapsack frontman Shehan — bald as a cueball and twice as ghoulish looking as Billy Corgan — pulled out all the stops playing track off its recently released Better Looking Records self-titled EP.

Shehan apologized for the band’s headline status throughout the set, mainly because the band only knows a handful of songs — a tactic that pretty much telegraphed that he wasn’t interested in playing any old Knapsack favorites. The crowd — consisting of hip indie kids in their late teens and early 20s — didn’t care as they crowded around the front of the Underground stage. The band was in fine form, possibly because the Sokol date was last stop on the Holiday Matinee Tour that featured The Jealous Sound, The And/Ors and Death Cab for Cutie, who skipped the proceedings only to play the Sokol Underground Sunday, March 18.

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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.