Thick Paint at Slowdown Jr., March 30, 2018.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I don’t remember Thick Paint’s  duo drummers in the past incarnation (at O’Leaver’s) or maybe I didn’t notice. I noticed Friday night at Slowdown Jr.

We could argue the pro’s and con’s of two drummers over a beer. My take is: Does the second drummer add anything to the sound that a single drummer couldn’t provide by just playing louder? The answer in this case is yes, most of the time. It certainly isn’t a gimmick, and they’re always fun to watch. Isn’t that the main appeal of two drummers?

I’d tell you those drummers’ names but Thick Paint doesn’t list personnel on its Facebook page except for frontman Graham Patrick Ulicny (and everyone knows bass player Sarah Bohling from Icky Blossoms). In addition to having a similar beard configuration as Jim James, Ulicny shares James’ voice. Actually, I tapped into my iPhone notes “Geddy Lee,” that’s how eccentrically high Ulicny’s voice is, and that’s not the only thing the band shares with Rush. There were times during the set that I could drop this band into the prog-rock bin thanks the chord choices and guitar lines, which actually reminded me more of Fripp-y ’80s-era King Crimson.

They’re at their best when they look past the intricacies of their guitar lines, lean back on those duo-drummers (and bass) and just swing, as they did on the last couple songs of their set.

Mothers at Slowdown Jr., March 20, 2018.

Headliner Mothers was a departure from the usual female-led indie band in their embracing of dark, arch melodies. Three songs into their set Friday night they played their poppiest number “It Hurts Until it Doesn’t,” off their last record. The rest of the night was dedicated to  mostly slower, ominous and powerful compositions that would make for great headphones listening (moreso than catching it live).

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When I bought tickets to tonight’s Lucy Dacus show at Reverb I could swear that the booking only listed two bands — Dacus and Adult Mom (who I’m actually more interested in seeing). In fact there’s three bands on tonight’s bill, with And the Kids. So even though this starts at 8 p.m. it could go past 11, which will force me to cut the Dacus set short (Some of us have to work in the morning).

Dacus’ latest album, Historian, was released this year on the mighty Matador label and received a rollicking 8.1 rating from Pitchfork. Adult Mom’s 2017 release Soft Spots (Tiny Engines) made Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield’s list of the best albums of that year.

Note that someone from 1% posted a “low ticket warning” on this show over the weekend, so if you’re interested, better get on it…

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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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

High Up at O’Leaver’s Jan. 30, 2016. The band plays Saturday night at Slowdown Jr.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I had some “bandwidth limit” issues with the website this morning. What can I tell you — the enormous amount of traffic to Lazy-i.com frankly makes it hard for my service provider to keep up. I think it’s squared away for now. Thank you for your patience.

Let’s get to what’s happening this weekend. I think we’ll all be spending a lot of time down at Slowdown.

Tonight Philly-based indie artist Mothers is playing in the Slowdown front room. The four-piece, headed by Kristine Leschper, released its last album When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired on Grand Jury in 2016. They’ve been compared to Angel Olsen and Jessica Pratt. Opening is Omaha bands Thick Paint and Oquoa. $12, 9 p.m.

Also tonight Omaha punkers No thanks plays at Brothers Lounge with Lincoln’s Mad Dog & the 20/20s. $5, 10 p.m.

And lest we forget, ’80s punk legends Chrome are playing tonight at Dr. Jack’s Drinkery, 3012 No. 102nd St. I’m told this isn’t so much Chrome as Helios Creed playing Chrome songs (since Damon Edge died in 1995). DHX (Dereck Higgins Experience), Human Teeth Parade and Gongfermour open starting at  8 p.m. Advance tickets were $12; no idea what they’re charging at the door.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) it’s back down to Slowdown Jr. for album release show for High Up’s new one You Are Here, released on Team Love Records. This could be a crowded celebration. Opening is LA’s Whispertown (Acony Records) and former Omaha singer/songwriter/legend Jake Bellows. $10, 8 p.m.

Also Saturday night, Omaha’s favorite outlaw country band Filter Kings headline a crowded show at Reverb Lounge that also includes Room 100, Prime Time Pickers, The Prairie Gators and Garst. $5, 6 p.m. (yep, 6 p.m.).

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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Presumably one of the people in this photo is Tim Kasher filming a scene from his new film No Resolution, which will have its premiere right here in Omaha.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Watched the Grammy’s last night. Somewhere, David Bowie is spinning in his grave. That, and Courtney Barnett got robbed. But who (other than Kanye) gives a shit about awards, anyway?

Some news:

Saddle Creek Records yesterday announced they’ve signed a new act to the label: Brooklyn band Big Thief. The project is helmed by singer/songwriter Adrianne Lenker, whose last known musical product was a solo album that came out in 2014 (embedded below). Pretty stuff.

No doubt Big Thief will be a departure from her more winsome acoustic material. The first song off the debut, “Masterpiece” (also embedded below) is a full-out four-on-the-floor indie rocker that reminded me of Centro-Matic and whose video features the band’s adorable dog. I do believe the Creek might have another hit on their hands. When combined with Hop Along, they make a matching set of salt-and-pepper hit makers.

The band is out with Eleanor Friedberger right now and will be swinging through Omaha April 3, opening for Yuck at (wait for it) Lookout Lounge. Big Thief also will be at SXSW this year, but alas, I won’t be there to see them (after last year’s nightly riot-squad 6th St. beat-downs I declared myself “too old for this shit”).

Check out Ms Lenker’s new and old stuff below. Welcome to the big leagues, kid…

Saddle Creek has been keeping themselves pretty busy this year. In addition to that Big Thief release, they’re reissuing Hop Along’s debut, Get Disowned, March 4, and they’ve got a new Thermals album, We Disappear, coming out March 25.

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Over the weekend the Omaha Film festival announced that Tim Kasher’s feature film debut, No Resolution, will be screened at this year’s festival (specifically March 11 at 6 p.m. at Village Point Theater).

From the press release:

The debut feature film by songwriter Tim Kasher (Cursive, The Good Life), No Resolution explores the relationship of never-was musician Cary and his newly pregnant fiancé Jean as they struggle with concepts of family and settling down. New Year’s Eve becomes a fitting backdrop for the disparity of their combined future; Jean longs for a nice night staying in, but the temptations of a decadent evening are too much for Cary to avoid. The engaged couple reaches a boiling point of anger and resentment as their upstairs neighbors stoke the flames with a raging New Year’s party.

The film stars Maura Kidwell of the USA network TV series Sirens, who also appeared in a couple episodes of Chicago Fire. And Erin O’Shea, who in addition to acting in two episodes of The Dreamers TV series is listed in IMDB as having appeared in an episode of Iron Chef America as the sous chef for challenger chef Michael Solomonov!

Mr. Kasher also wrote a soundtrack for the film (He’s a regular John Carpenter!) that he says he’ll be releasing toward the end of the year.

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Big show tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s. Athens band Mothers headlines. The band was rumored to have been courted by some high-falutin’ labels, including one that’s near and dear to all our hearts. I asked the band via their publicist if that rumor was true, but didn’t hear back (probably because I didn’t ask until last Friday). BTW, Grand Jury Records will have the honor of putting out Mothers’ debut, When You Walk A Long Distance You Are Tired, Feb. 26. Opening tonight is Thick Paint and Eklectica. $7, 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.