Matthew Sweet at fabulous O’Leaver’s, July 30, 2014. Sweet and his band play Saturday at the 1200 Club in the Holland Performing Arts Center, a benefit for Hear Nebraska.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Who needs to go to SXSW when Omaha has the line-up of shows it has this weekend? Suck it, Austin.

It all starts tonight with a rock ‘n’ roll nuclear war at the 1 Percent Complex (i.e., the buildings that house The Waiting Room and Reverb Lounge).  Little Brazil headlines at The Waiting Room. Expect new material along with old favorites. LB is one of Omaha’s most overlooked bands. If you haven’t experienced their onslaught, do it tonight. Opening is Lightning Bug and Low Long Signal. $7, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, Omaha’s grisliest, grungiest stoner-rock band Nightbird will be trying to fry Reverb’s delicate sound system. They’ll get some help with opener Pro-Magnum. This is destined to be loud as f***, so bring your earmuffs. $7, 9 p.m.

One Percent should offer a single $12 ticket that gets you into both shows, and then open up their secret back passage that connects both rooms. Come on, guys!

Saturday night it’s all about Matthew Sweet, who’s playing a special rock show down at the 1200 Club in the Holland Performing Arts Center. Opening is So-So Sailors, who haven’t played anywhere in ages (and it’s about time). Your $45 ticket benefits Hear Nebraska – that alone should be enough to get you down there. If you really love Matthew Sweet, get a VIP ticket for $100, which lets you hang out with the ’90s indie rock idol. Show starts at 8. Get your tickets here. See you there.

Before Sweet Saturday night check out a special in-store performance by Juan Wauters at the Saddle Creek Record Shop. Wauters, who is opening for Tweedy on Sunday, used to be in a pretty awesome indie band called The Beets. The in-store begins at 6 p.m. and is absolutely free.

Finally Sunday is that aforementioned Tweedy concert at Sokol Auditorium. Tweedy is, of course, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and his son Spencer on drums. It’s the closest thing you’re going to get to a Wilco concert in Omaha this year. Opening is Juan Wauters. $28, 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 © 2015 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil at The Waiting Room, July 19, 2014. The band is playing for free tonight at The Sydney.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Lots of (cheap) local shows this weekend, especially tonight.

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s Lincoln punk legends Domestica are on a showbill headlined by (ex-Filter King) Gerald Lee’s sludge/stoner band Nightbird. Opening is Lincoln’s Once a Pawn. $5, 9:30 p.m.

Back in Benson at The Sydney Little Brazil headlines a free show with The Brigadiers and Well Aimed Arrows (who, I’m told, has wrapped up recording a new album). The fun starts at 9.

Over at The Barley Street, local post-punk band Drakes Hotel is on a bill that includes The Bishops, The Toppings and Brief Candles. If the website listing is correct, Drakes plays first. $5, 9 p.m.

Finally, Brad Hoshaw and Low Long Signal open for the debut of Foreign Body at Benson’s newest lounge/concert space Reverb (read all about the bar here). $5, 9 p.m.

And remember, tonight is Benson First Friday. Get your parking where you can.

Let’s not forget that Relax, It’s Science headlines at Slowdown Jr. tonight with Nanahara and Timecat. $5, 9 p.m.

I keep forgetting that it’s football season and Husker games pretty much drive rock shows off the calendar on Saturdays. That said, there’s at least one show going on tomorrow night, and it’s at Reverb. Millions of Boys headlines with Dan Mariska and the Boys Choir and The Crash Bandits. $7, 9 p.m.

That’s what I got. If I missed your show, put it in the comments section. Have a good 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil at The Waiting Room, July 19, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

What a birthday bash for Sara Bertuldo. Something like 150 people (guess-timate) were there to celebrate Sara’s successful journey around the sun and to hear one of the strongest local line-ups in a long time.

See Through Dresses at The Waiting Room, July 19, 2014.

Sara kicked it off with her band, See Through Dresses. All this talk about a shoegaze revival with bands like Slowdive once again touring. Forget all that and check out this band, which combines the best droning shoe-gaze elements with the tunefulness of Dinosaur Jr. and Pixies. Bertuldo has grown not only in age but in voice, sharing the vocal chores with Matt Carroll, who’s no push-over himself. Post mammoth June tour, they were razor sharp.

As reported, Little Brazil swapped out half its personnel, and the difference was indeed noticeable. Matt Bowen brings a throatier style to the kit, somehow managing to work his way through Oliver Morgan’s intricate lines while adding his own unique voice to the proceedings. Mike Friedman’s lead guitar lines were altogether different not only from what Greg Edds used to contribute to the band, but from what Friedman does as a member of The Lupines. His Lupes’ style is sheer shredding, whereas his ornate touch on LB tunes recalls Layla-era Clapton (Yeah, I said it, I compared him to God). You had to pay attention, though, as Friedman is more musician than showman — playing (at times) with his back toward the audience.

It all came together on the third song of LB’s set, a new tune unlike anything I’ve heard them try before, a hook-laden rocker that separates itself from LB’s standard indie fare thanks to a unique vocal melody and amazing harmony guitars between Landon Hedges and Friedman that recalled the best of Thin Lizzy. This one has “hit” written all over it (too bad there ain’t no such thing as a hit these days). Hedges, btw, was in top vocal form, and bassist Danny Maxwell’s bass continued to be the bedrock it’s all built upon. Where can these guys take this next?

Ladyfinger rounding out the July 19 show at The Waiting Room.

Finally, Ladyfinger framed the evening with its usual bombast. It was a greatest hits set, with no new material (that I recognized, anyway). Here’s yet another band of local legends that has me scratching my head, wondering where they’re headed next.

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Nightbird at The Sydney, July 18, 2014.

Friday night I slipped into The Sydney to catch Nightbird’s debut performance, and it was pretty much as I expected — a set of sludgy, mid-tempo long-form rock songs inspired by your favorite stoner bands. Gerald Lee Meyerpeter howled over his guitar’s feedback as drummer Scott Zimmerman and bassist Jeff Harder provided the foundation. We used to call this “drug music” when I was a kid, and though I don’t do drugs, I can imagine (or maybe I can’t) what it would be like to trip out to this stuff in a smoke-filled bedroom surrounded by black-light posters and halter-tops. Nightbird is all about style rather than songs — if you’re into their kind of dirty sludge, a heavy heaven awaits. PS: Rumor has it they may be adding another guitar, someone from Omaha rock’s not-so-distant past…

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Big show tonight at fabulous O’Leavers — the return of Planes Mistaken for Stars. These guys have been coming through since the late ’90s playing an angular style of post-hardcore punk. Not to be missed. Opening is New Lungs (Little Brazil’s Danny Maxwell in the lead position) and Chicago post-hardcore band All Eyes West. $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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil circa now, from left, are Landon Hedges, Danny Maxwell, Mike Friedman and Matt Bowen. Photo by Zach Hollowell.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It’s heating up for Saturday night’s big local slow at The Waiting Room. When was the last time you saw Ladyfinger? You’ve got See Through Dresses, who are blowing up (and it’s Sara’s birthday party). And then there’s Little Brazil…

In this week’s column, Landon Hedges and Danny Maxwell introduce us to the newest players in one of Omaha’s better-known indie bands. You can read it in the pages of the just-dropped issue of The Reader or online right here. The new line-up will debut a handful of new Little Brazil songs at Saturday night’s show. Clear your calendar.

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One of the longer and more detailed interviews with Conor Oberst went online yesterday at American Songwriter. Oberst talks about his writing process, his influences and life in the fish bowl. It’s an interesting read. Take a look.

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I’m still trying to figure out the relevance of the “Fair Digital Deals Declaration” that was signed by 700 indie labels, and reported throughout the internet yesterday, including this concise Rolling Stone article.

The declaration (online in its entirety here) basically states that the signing labels aren’t going to screw their artists or make under-the-counter deals with streaming services that cut artists out of whatever payout the labels receive. It’s all about “transparency.” Saddle Creek is among those signing the manifesto. While this is all nice and good, hasn’t this sort of transparency been standard operating practice for most indie labels to begin with? What is the expected outcome of this declaration? And do the major labels, Spotify and YouTube (who one could argue are all in cahoots) give a shit?

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, one of he more talked-about local indie outfits is headlining at The Waiting Room: M34n Str33t. If you haven’t heard their latest, Mutants of Omaha, you can check it out below and download the mofo. Opening is the punk chaos of Worried Mothers, who I haven’t seen perform outside of O’Leaver’s. Could be very weird indeed. Also on the bill is Articulate/Deejay CMB & Coaxed. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, Lincoln post-punkers Tie These Hands opens for Prawn at Slowdown Jr. Lot Walks also is on the bill. $10, 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 © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil circa 2004. Back then the band was (clockwise from left) drummer Corey Broman, bassist Danny Maxwell, guitarist/keyboardist Austin Britton and vocalist/guitarist Landon Hedges. A new line-up takes the stage tonight, 10 years later…

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

So what day is it again? Monday? Wait, what? Thursday? Huh? This is the strangest holiday season that I can remember… but I like that what feels like Monday is actually Thursday.

I also like the fact that tonight is the return of Little Brazil to O’Leaver’s.

The big news here is that guitarist Greg Edds quit Little Brazil a number of weeks ago — the reason for his departure I cannot say, but he’ll be missed. Filling his rather monstrous shoes is none other than one of the city’s best guitarists, Mike Friedman, last seen on stage bent over a pedal-steel guitar accompanying Simon Joyner. Friedman is a rock veteran who’s history includes stints in The Movies (with Matt Whipkey), Reagan and The Rayguns, and his other current gig playing alongside the local heroes who make up The Lupines.

Greg’s not the only one who flew the Little Brazil coop. Drummer Oliver Morgan took flight last year, replaced by one-man wrecking crew Matt Baum (Desaparecidos). Ollie now drums with Saddle Creek band Twinsmith, and according to this story in Hear Nebraska, will be playing with LB for the last time ever tonight.

Of course the core of LB remains the same: Danny Maxwell on bass alongside frontman/guitarist Landon Hedges. Both were kept busy with other projects last year — DMax with New Lungs and Landon touring as a member of Desaparecidos.

The 4-band bill tonight at O’Leaver’s (yes, four bands, who knows why so many) include Love Drunk mastermind Django Greenblatt-Seay’s new band The Gramps followed by travelers Dan Mariska and the Boys Choir (from Minnesota), then the amazing See Through Dresses, and finally Little Brazil closing out the night.

This should be a rather huge show if the brutal below-zero temps don’t keep people from venturing out. $5, 9:30 p.m.

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Lazy-i Best of 2013

We’re still taking entries in the drawing for a copy of the Lazy-i Best of 2013 compilation CD! The collection includes songs by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Gardenheads, Destruction Unit, Lloyd Cole, Pet Shop Boys, Daft Punk, Jack Bugg and a ton more.  The full track listing is here. Entering has never been easier: To enter either: 1. Send an email with your mailing address to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com, or 2) Write a comment on one of my Lazy-i related posts in Facebook, or 3) Retweet a Lazy-i tweet. You also can enter by sending me a direct message in Facebook or Twitter. Hurry, contest deadline is midnight Jan. 6!

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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.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I went to fewer shows this year than the past, what, 15 years? I typically go to 1.5 shows a week, which rounds out to around 75 shows a year. But this year I only went to around 50. One reason for my attendance decline was my busy schedule; another was my decision to quit seeing bands that I’ve already seen in the past six months. But the biggest reason was that there seemed to be fewer high-quality indie acts coming through town this year.

Still, there was plenty to see and hear in 2012. Here were my favorites:

Feb. 17, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at Slowdown — Live vs. recording, the Pavement frontman took short songs like “Tigers” and “Senators” and “Baby C’Mon” and stretched them into longer jams that leaned heavy on his own slinky guitar solo prowess.

March 1, Bleeding Rainbow at Slowdown Jr. — The set-up was simple: two guitars, drums and bass, with male/female vocalists creating flat-toned harmonies on songs that were jet-fueled by loud-as-fuck guitar riffs.

March 9, Icky Blossoms at The Waiting Room — The more I see them, the more they remind me of The B-52s and Public Image Ltd (PiL), with Derek Pressnall split between Fred Schneider and John Lydon.

April 27, Lambchop at Slowdown Jr. — Their sound was warm and subtle like sipping a glass of fine old scotch. Really beautiful stuff.

May 14, St. Vincent at Slowdown — Though her stage presence recalled Prince, her music had more in common with arch New Wave composers such as Brian Eno, Laurie Anderson and Talking Heads, while her voice was Joni and Aimee and Souxsie Sioux. But it was nothing compared to those hot-bitch guitar licks that could rattle your teeth with its staccato fists or pull you under the covers with waves of luscious, tonal phrasing.

Aug. 3, Simon Joyner and The Ghosts at The Sydney — Joyner’s seven-member drone-folk orchestra kept the vibe in a noisy haze throughout the night, filling every inch of dense space with waves of feedback, pedal steel, violin and cello, with two percussionists keeping beat for the tribe.

Aug. 12, The Maha Music Festival, Stinson Park — Despite the on-again off-again rain, the festival drew an impressive 4,300 for one of the most diverse line-ups that Omaha has ever seen. Can they top it in ’13?

Aug. 18, The Faint at Slowdown — Top of mind (at least to me) was how they would sound without Faint ex-pat Joel Petersen on bass. I doubt any of the bouncing sold-out crowd that turned the Slowdown’s dance floor into a giant trampoline noticed a difference.

Sept. 8, Twin Shadow at The Waiting Room — The crowd did the classic ’80s shoulder-shrug dance while frontman George Lewis pounded out chords on guitar. There was a macho drama to everything he did, more intense than fun, but fun nevertheless.

Sept. 14, Wild Nothing / DIIV at Sokol Underground — They reminded me of ’90s champions The Church and The Cure with bigger guitar riffs and vocals that you could actually understand.

Oct. 18, Judgement Day at O’Leaver’s — Driving, pounding, throbbing rock as intense as metal but without the pain. The Pantzer brothers played souring mini-orchestrations blending violin and cello atop a bed of drums.

Oct. 28, Cursive at Slowdown — When I Am Gemini came out at the beginning of the year, we all had our doubhts that it would fit in with the rest of the Cursive oeuvre. Those doubts were erased on stage that night…

Nov. 12, A Place to Bury Strangers at The Waiting Room — Standing next to the stage was like sitting at the foot of an airport runway watching jets fly overhead.

Nov. 21, Titus Andronicus at Sokol Underground — Patrick Stickles and company came on in a meat-and-potatoes fashion and barreled through a set that included the best off the new album.

Nov. 28, Digital Leather at Slowdown — Shawn Foree and Co. threw out a golden nugget I thought I’d never hear them play again — “Studs In Love,” the homo anthem from Blow Machine re-engineered from an electronic hump fable to a roaring, spitting metallic confession.

And then, last night at The Waiting Room, four bands to close out the year…

Little Brazil at The Waiting Room, Dec. 27, 2012

John Klemmensen is a big guy with a blue guitar, a golden voice and a broken heart who can capture more yearning with a single line than most bands can with an entire album. Mainly because you believe him; mainly because it’s (probably) all true and he doesn’t care who knows it. With his back-up band, The Party, he infuses his confessions with hooks that camouflage either anger or bitterness or just plain loneliness with lines that you would scoff at as self-flagellating BS if they came from anyone else but the guy standing/singing/rocking right in front of you. His only recordings are homemade. It’s time someone gets him into a formal studio and gets it all down on tape.

The Brigadiers debut was a cause celeb thanks to some heavy hitting vets not the least of which included drummer Clint Schnase of Cursive fame. On this project, Schnase rides the kit with a distinctively lighter touch backing songs that are folk rock bordering on Americana bordering on pure tunesmith-ing. I was reminded of Big Star. The guy next to me was thinking T. Rex, and if you can pull off those kinds of comparisons on your debut, you’re onto something.

The Sons of The Waiting Room (better known as The Sons of O’Leaver’s but recently known as The Sons of The Slowdown) saw their numbers grow by 33 percent with the addition of The Brothers Weber on pedal steel / electric guitar and keyboards. As one onlooker put it “Shit, they’ve got three of the best guitarists in Nebraska on that stage.” Indeed. The additional fire power did its job filling out their sound and (on some songs) adding a bit of southern twang. It felt more laid back than an O’Leaver’s set because it was. I prefer the harder stuff, like set-closing classic “We Need the Night” that any god fearing Replacements fan would love.

And then came Little Brazil. The line-up change mentioned a few weeks ago was done with little fanfare, and maybe that was for the best, though there wasn’t a fan in the crowd who wasn’t curious how the band would sound with beefy Matt Baum replacing the kinetic/frenetic Oliver Morgan behind the kit. The diff for me: Ollie loves his cymbals while Baum prefers his throaty toms. More lower end gave frontman Landon (a Bobby Brady alto) more room to roam on vocals, or so it seemed to me. Others said they didn’t notice a difference, and that may be true considering the a typical Little Brazil set is like sitting in a field adjacent to Cape Canaveral during a shuttle launch. Pow-ful stuff. Baum was introduced as “helping us out tonight.” So does that mean they’re still looking for a permanent drummer? With he and Landon headed to Europe and then the East Coast for a Desaparecidos tour, who knows where this lineup is headed…

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The holiday action continues with a four-friggin’-band bill tonight at the Sweatshop Gallery, located just south of The Barley Street Tavern. The line-up: Capgun Coup, Yuppies, Adult Films and Brooklyn band Parquet Courts, who’s song “Borrowed Time” was named a Pitchfork “Best New Track” this past November (take a listen here). $5, 9 p.m.

Tomorrow night, popular local ’90s ska band Jimmy Skaffa has a full-blown reunion at The Waiting Room. The Stick Figures open at 9 p.m., $7.

Meanwhile down the street at The Barley Street Tavern Saturday night, Kite Pilot headlines a show with High & Tight and Above the State. $5, 9 p.m.

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And don’t forget to enter the drawing for a copy of the Lazy-i Best of 2012 Sampler. The full track listing is here (scroll to the bottom of the entry). To enter, send your name and mailing address to tim.mcmahan@gmail.com. Hurry! Deadline is Jan. 15.

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil, circa now.

by Tim McMahan. Lazy-i.com

You might have wondered the same thing I did when you saw the sexy new band photo for Little Brazil (above) posted yesterday: Where’s the rest of the band?

Guitarist Greg Edds (the guy on the left) confirmed that drummer Oliver Morgan and wife Megan have left the band to focus on their other band, Landing on the Moon.

Edds characterized the line-up change this way: “Obviously, we all are still close friends and you’ll most likely find us in Benson shooting Rumplemintz and tossing Busch Light cans at each other. It’s all good.”

So who’s playing drums now? None other than Desaparecidos drummer Matt Baum. Edds said Baum is filling in for the band’s next show — Dec. 27 at The Waiting Room with The Sons of The Waiting Room, John Klemmensen and the Party, and The Brigadiers (more about them in a sec).

Oliver’s technical, intricate drumming style with lots o’ cymbals has always been a core element of the band’s sound. “Bombastic” might be the best way to describe Baum’s style (Edds referred to Baum’s “Hulk Smash” skills — quite appropriate). The only thing more signature than Baum’s booming style is his habit of getting up from behind the kit between songs and yelling at the crowd.

One of the few other local drummers that hits the toms as hard as Baum is former Cursive drummer Clint Schnase, who put away the sticks back in 2007, returning for a one-shot performance at the August 2011 Maha Festival. Well, Schnase’s back, this time as drummer of The Brigadiers, a band that includes Shane Lamson, guitar, vocals; Mark Weber (ex-Box), lead guitar, vocals; and Vic Padios (ex-Calico, ex-Gymnastics), bass, vocals. This Dec. 27 show is looking pretty hot…

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In this week’s column, random notes written a week ago (due to pushed-up holiday deadlines) about Lance Armstrong, Bob Kerrey and the new Ralston Arena. You can read it in the current issue of The Reader (which I’m told is already on news stands) or online right here.

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We all have the day off tomorrow, so there’s no excuse for not going to a show (unless the show sells out), and there are some doozies to choose from.

Tonight at The Slowdown it’s the return of Tilly and the Wall. The band has been on the road for a few weeks supporting their most recent Team Love release, Heavy Mood. For me, Tilly’s always been a sweet little tap-dancing-fueled combo tailor made for the little girl in all of us — cute and fun, with rarely noticed sinister lyrics lying just beneath the covers.

That changed with Heavy Mood, which, after you get past the B-52’s-flavored opening tracks, is as good of an indie rock album as I’ve heard this year. For me, the best part is that the band has finally learned to harmonize. In the old days, everyone sang the same note at the same time, which while sounding “youthful” also sounded very amateurish. Harmony rich tracks like “Hey Rainbow” and “I Believe in You” give Azure Ray a fun for their money. “Echo My Love” is flat-out one of the best tracks I’ve heard this year. Opening tonight’s show is Saddle Creek Records act UUVVWWZ and Sun Settings. $13, 9 p.m. In her weekly email, Val kinda/sorta warned that this one could sell out, so if you’re into it, get your tickets online now.

Also tonight, down where Omaha indie rock was born — Sokol Underground — it’s the return of Titus Andronicus. Their new album, Local Business (XL Records) takes a few steps back from their last two epic-strewn releases to more stripped-down territory. Heck, there are even a few songs in the 3- to 5-minute-long category. But ol’ Pat Stickles just can’t help himself and thus, right in the middle is the 8-plus-minute “My Eating Disorder” while the nearly 10-minute “Tried to Quit Smoking” closes out the record.

Those long songs just seem to meander, especially when played live. I’ve seen these guys a number of  times and their best sets have been at SXSW, where they were forced to keep it simple and keep it quick. As a headliner, expect another epic (and long) performance. Opening this four-band bill are local boys Gordon, Iowa City’s Slut River, and Matador Records band Ceremony, who by themselves would be a decent draw. $15, 9 p.m. Slowburn Productions kinda/sorta warned that this one might sell out, too. You might want to get your tickets right now right here.

Also tonight, the 3rd Annual Benson Canned Food Drive is happening at the Barley Street Tavern. Performers include Brad Hoshaw, Kyle Harvey (I guess he’s in town for the holidays), Matt Cox, John Klemmenson, Nick Carl, Bret Vovk, Rebecca Lowry and Matt Whipkey. Admission is two cans of food. Show starts at 9.

And The Waiting Room is hosting a slew of “tribute” (more like cover) bands including REModeled doing their version of Reckoning, Surfer Rosa and Rock and Roll Suicide doing Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense. $7, 9 p.m.

Better get it in tonight, folks, because there ain’t shit going on tomorrow or Friday night.

Happy Turkey Day…

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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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Criteria at The Waiting Room, March 9, 2012.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

It was another great weekend of shows, starting with Friday night’s 5-year birthday party at The Waiting Room.

I arrived in time to catch one song by The Photo Atlas — their usual high-energy dance rock a la The Rapture left me wondering why these guys have yet to catch on nationally.  By the time Little Brazil came on stage The Waiting Room was crowded, though not a sell out. LB lit it up as per usual, using the opportunity to play some new material which fell in line with their older stuff but somehow felt more modern. Frontman Landon Hedges continues to galvanize his role as indie music’s Freddy Mercury with his soaring, high voice and overall stage bombasity. Before closing their set, Hedges suggested that Criteria’s Stephen Pedersen would have to come out for their last song, a fiery rendition of a Smashmouth tune — not the “Walking on the Sun” Smash Mouth, but Pedersen’s old old band. Sure enough, out came Steve to share vocals on the final chorus, and the crowd went nuts.

Moments later, he was back on stage fronting Criteria. Here’s a band that hibernates for months only to pop their collective head out once a year (or so) to thrill its fans and generate unfounded speculation that perhaps this time they’re back for good (though we all know better).

I’ll say what I’ve said every time this band reunites — they haven’t lost any of their chops. The band still shreds, and Pedersen can still hit those high notes with a mighty fist in the air. His rockstar moves and his movie-star good looks have always made him an indie version of Rick Springfield (“…paging Dr. Noah Drake…“), though these days he’s in Hard to Hold territory.

The difference between this performance and all the other Criteria reunions was the crowd response — I’ve never seen their fans so animated and into the music. And we’re not talking about oldsters from “back in the day” — there were plenty of youngsters screaming back the lyrics who couldn’t have been around when Criteria was first hitting the stages of America a decade ago. How this happens — how a new generation discovers a band that rarely plays and hasn’t released an album in years (and obviously doesn’t get any airplay) — is indeed a mystery.

Icky Blossoms at The Slowdown, March 10, 2012.

Saturday night was the send-off concert for Icky Blossoms at The Slowdown. The show, originally slated for the Jr. room, was moved to Slowdown’s main stage due to the anticipated crowd size. It turned out being the right call.

Here’s my takeaways:

— The band seemed tighter than usual, maybe they were nervous?

— With the new songs, Derek Pressnall appears to be taking a back seat on vocals to Sarah Bohling, who still doesn’t seem completely comfortable in that lead role. It’s either that, or the sound mix was poor, because I couldn’t hear her on half her songs as she struggled to project above the booming rhythm section.

— Ah, that new rhythm section of Saber Blazek on bass and Clark Baechle on drums is bad-ass. Anyone who’s seen Machete Archive knows about Blazek’s chaotic ballet when he’s deep in a groove, and years of playing in The Faint (and in Bright Eyes) has made Baechle arguably the best drummer in Omaha. HUGE.

— If Sitek has had an influence on their sound, it may be in their new emphasis on deep beats. Icky always was a dance band, but now they’ve pumped up the volume to new levels, reminiscent of The Faint.

The more I see them, the more they remind me of The B-52s and Public Image Ltd (PiL), with Derek divided somewhere between Fred Schneider and John Lydon. Meanwhile, Bohling continues to fill the Nico role. Nik Fackler’s guitar textures continue to impress me, as does his knee drops. When he’s wigging out next to Blazek the whole room feeds off the energy.

In retrospect, I do think Bohling was simply tight at the beginning of the set, because she laid it on toward the end, especially on a new tune that she shared with Pressnall, whose name presumably is something like “Riding Around in My Car Forever.” And then there was the closer, the always huge “Perfect Vision,” which never fails to get the crowd bouncing. It’ll be interesting to see how well the tune translates to a South By Southwest audience this week. I’ll let you 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 © 2012 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Little Brazil at The Sydney, Feb. 4, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The big news: Megan Morgan, Oliver’s wife, has joined Little Brazil. At first I wondered if that was a good idea. There’s the whole Yoko thing to think about. Do wives and girlfriends belong with the band on the road? But then I realized that Megan has kind of been a part of this band for years. She’s certainly rode all the ups and downs with the rest of the band. She knows what it’s like to tour having been a member of Landing on the Moon (Oliver’s “other band”) for years (though they haven’t toured nearly as much as LB). How the band will pull off a full-out fall or spring tour in support of a new album when Megan has a “real job” as a teacher I do not know. That’s a question that’ll have to wait until the obligatory interview that always takes place before the album release show.

And that won’t be too far off. LB played seven new songs, presumably tunes that will be on their next LP. It was before the second number that Megan was called to the stage as “the newest member of Little Brazil.” The addition of keyboards has done exactly what you’d expect them to do — forced LB to focus more on melodies, and as a result, the new material has more of a ballad lilt to it, it’s more tuneful, less punk, more anthem, and for a band that’s been around as long as they have, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Megan’s keyboards are not front-and-center, they’re a a colorful garnish that doesn’t get in the way of the band’s core sound, which continues to hinge on frontman Landon Hedges’ After School Special vocals, a combination of adolescent high-end and 20-something going on 30-something meloncholy. The music remains that familiar mix of Superchunk and late-’90s early 2000’s emo a la Weakerthans, Sorry About Dresden, Get-Up Kids, and my favorite comparison, Polyvinyl band Sunday’s Best (circa 2000’s Poised to Break), who they’ve always most resembled (to me, anyway). It’s too early to say if this is the album that pushes them over the hump or merely pushes them along.

LB’s performance was part of the Hear Nebraska Launch Party at The Sydney Friday night, and the crowd pushed the bar to its capacity — at least from a service standpoint. Getting a beer wasn’t easy, and I almost gave up until LB started playing and a tiny space opened at the bar. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a show at the Sydney, and despite having a pool table right in the center of the floor, it could become a great place for live music if it wanted to be. After a few tweaks during the opening number, the room and PA sounded pretty good. But judging from their gig calendar, the folks at The Sydney (wisely) have decided to make shows a distant secondary attraction to garnering a regulars-style drinking club, and who can blame them?

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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 © 2011 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.