Live Review: Speedy Ortiz, Spacemoth at Slowdown…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , — @ 8:28 am November 20, 2023

Speedy Ortiz at Slowdown, Nov. 17, 2023.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We missed opening band UN-T.I.L. Friday night at The Slowdown, which I guess you could call another life lesson for this very young band that is the product of the Omaha Girls Rock program. We had just seen them a couple weeks earlier at that organization’s fundraiser at Benson Theater (they were awsome) and kind of knew we’d miss them Friday as we were running late. The life lesson: The opening slot in a three-band (or even worse, four-band) bill often gets missed by those who don’t want to (or can’t) spend three-plus hours at the venue. 

Spacemoth at Slowdown, Nov. 17, 2023.

We arrived right as Spacemoth began their set. The four-piece led by Maryam Qudus played a woozy brand of spacey shoegaze indie rock, dominated by synths. They were at their best when they were at their simplest – stripped down to the most basic rhythm/melody. 

The inability to understand the words sung by the vocalist is practically a shoegaze trope, but here, when the band is straddling the line that divides shoegaze from indie rock, the lack of enunciation only takes away, as the vocals merely become another tonal instrument. 

Their set’s highlight was the second to last song, which Qudus said was “a new one.” It stood above the others in its more conventional arrangement – in other words, it rocked. Kicky fun. More of this, please. 

Speedy Ortiz came on at around 10 p.m. and proceeded to rock the crowd of around 60. The band’s latest, Rabbit Rabbit, is maybe their least accessible album, with intricate rhythms and melodies that lean close to prog. Surprising time changes, wandering vocals and dominate, at times over-the-top drums make this anything but sing-along stuff. There were moments when the drums were down-right distracting. Songs off the new record performed live were sometimes grooveless, but when they did fall into a groove, you really noticed.

Front person Sadie Dupuis was complimentary about our fair city throughout the set, but the whole band was taken by surprise when the crowd didn’t react to the shout-out. Dupuis said if this were Philly, the crowd would have gone bananas with just the mention of their town’s name; but in this case, the reaction was matter-of-fact, if they acknowledged it at all. 

Despite this, later in the set, Dupuis remarked why she loved playing in Omaha. Apparently Mike Mogis mixed the band’s previous album, which meant she spent a couple weeks here, driving around. “It’s almost like a second home,” she said. In that case, welcome home, Sadie, we missed you. 

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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.

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Speedy Ortiz, Spacemoth, Slothrust tonight; Bad Bad Men Saturday; Fizzle Like a Flood Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 10:10 am November 17, 2023

Speedy Ortiz plays tonight at The Slowdown.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

That headline is a like a movie trailer that gives away the whole movie, except there are little bits and pieces missing that you must know to enjoy your weekend.

First in line is Speedy Ortiz at The Slowdown tonight. You read the interview with Sadie Dupuis on Wednesday, right? You didn’t? Well what are you waiting for? Tour mates Spacemoth is a tuneful post-punk project by Maryam Qudus. Their latest, No Past No Future, was released last year by Wax Nine Records, and is just dandy, as the kids say (They say that, right?). Omaha Girls Rock product UN-T.I.L. opens this show at 8 p.m. and is definitely worth getting there on time for.  This one’s tonight in the front room and will run you $20. See you there.

Also tonight, Brooklyn alt rock band Slothrust headlines at Reverb Lounge. They came through town back in 2019 (at O’Leaver’s!) and just dropped a new album last month called I Promise (on Dangerbird Records) that further galvanizes their cred as the second coming of Garbage. It’s just a matter of time before alt-rock stations discover a banger like “Maybe Maybe” and ascend Slothrust to FM stardom (if such a thing exists anymore). Fellow Broolynites Pronoun (self-proclaimed emo-pop auteur Alyse Vellturo) opens the show at 8 p.m. $20.

Tomorrow night (Saturday), Omaha punk power trio Bad Bad Men headlines at Reverb for their final show of 2023. Two KC bands join them — The Utilitarians (w/Omaha’s Billy Guifoyle on drums) and Dan Jones & The Squids (with Season to Risk’s Steve Tulipana on bass). 8 p.m., $10. Come on, go to the show. The last thing you need to do is stay at home and watch the Huskers lose again.

Finally, Sunday night sees the return of Township & Range (featuring the talented Travis Sing), with Willoughby (Corey Stroud of 89.7 The River). But opening the gig is none other than the legendary Fizzle Like a Flood, one of my all-time favorite local singer/songwriters who the dang lemmings at Saddle Creek Records should have signed back in 2000. Will Doug play “Believe in Being Barefoot”? Show up at 7 p.m. at Reverb Lounge (this is an early show) and find out. $10. 

And 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 © 2023 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

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Lazy-i Interview: Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis (at Slowdown this Friday)…

Category: Blog,Interviews — Tags: , — @ 8:48 am November 15, 2023
Speedy Ortiz at O’Leaver’s, Aug. 15, 2015, after playing that day at the Maha Music Festival. The band plays Friday night at The Slowdown.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Speedy Ortiz music is a rough-and-tumble ride through indie and punk landscapes, contextualized by strange, unpredictable guitar parts, familiar rhythms and front woman Sadie Dupuis’ intricate, confounded and always clever lyrics about, well, living.

Take perhaps Speedy Ortiz’s most popular song, the waltzing anthem “No Below” from the recently reissued 2013 breakthrough album Major Arcana, where Dupuis sings of youth and isolation and having one friend who, in the lowest times, is looking out for you. Or at least that’s how I interpreted the song over the years (and let’s face it, I’ve never been very good at interpretation):

A decade later and a new album — Rabbit Rabbit — and things have only gotten more complicated. Her friendships seem to have evolved on the waltzing anthem “Plus One,” where Dupuis sings: 

Songs are for telling and records for show
Stole my split necklace half to see where I’d help you go
The other piece, it doesn’t fit where I hoped

Intricate, confounded and always clever, that’s Speedy Ortiz, who is playing Friday night at The Slowdown. It’s also Dupuis, who’s crafted a successful career both with this band and as Sad 13, her solo project. She’s come through Omaha in one form or another throughout her career, playing house shows (at the world famous West Wing) as well as DIY venues (Milk Run in 2016 with — get this — Mannequin Pussy and Vegabon) and regular venues, too. 

I caught up with Dupuis recently for a brief interview in support of this Slowdown show and told her she once made fun of me online when I said I was afraid to go to a house show at my age — places where i’m often mistaken for a cop or an angry father.

“I do feel like house shows should be for everyone,” she said. “I’m getting close to 40, I’m not a teenager anymore. DIY shows, especially as the infrastructure for indie venues has shrunk, have become more important. We had a couple shows on this tour that were more in the DIY realm — like art spaces — and really appreciated it.

“We played The Church, which is a basement of a Presbyterian church, and (the venue) gets the kids and people in their 70s to come to all their shows, and that’s important — to foster that generational connection. We’re all music fans coming from different parts of our lives, but coming to the same place.”

Fine Sadie, I’ll no longer turn my back on house shows. (If you see someone who looks like a cop, come say hello.)

Spanning generations was one theme to our brief discussion. i mentioned that the band UN-T.I.L. will be opening for her Friday night, an all-woman, punk power trio that’s the product of Omaha Girls Rock!. Dupuis was thrilled. Over the years, she and her band have been strong supporters of girl rock camps, even donating tour proceeds in the past to Girls Rock programs. 

“I went to a gender-inclusive summer camp, and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing had I not gone to that camp,” Dupuis said. “I went back as an instructor. We meet girl bands that come out of those programs, and it’s always really cool . We’ve played with ex camper bands, and it’s such a positive ethos that comes out of those camps that injects needed love and support into the indie, punk and hardcore scenes.”

No doubt. BTW, if you haven’t seen UN-T.I.L., get to the show on time Friday night — you’re in for a treat.

Final question: Sadie underwent the dreaded 10 Questions treatment back in 2016 in support of that Milk Run show and was asked (as in all 10Q interviews) if she could earn a living with her music. She said she could but, “I’m not really raking it in.” 

Seven years later, things sound like they haven’t changed much. 

“We took many years off the touring, and I did a lot of random gigs,” she said. “We’ve been touring for a few months. But when (the tour ends) I’ll be back to different freelance projects – writing, production gigs. 

“This is part of why DIY and art spaces are more crucial than ever. It’s been hard for independent venues. For the style of music we play, we’ve been warned that rooms are not the same. I came with expectations that live music changed somewhat in the post pandemic and ongoing pandemic world. It doesn’t change our joy to play to people who do come out and meet us. it’s a different feeling and that’s fine for me personally. Some of my favorite shows were played in front of 10 people.”

Make sure Sadie and her band aren’t playing in front of just 10 people by coming out to The Slowdown Friday night. Joining them are tourmates Space Moth and the aforementioned UN-T.I.L. This front room show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $20. See you there…

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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.

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Coming attractions, new music: Sextile, Diners, Speedy Ortiz, Hiss Golden Messenger, Wilco…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 7:42 am August 2, 2023
Sextile at Blackstone Meatball, Sept. 18, 2017. The band plays The Waiting Room Oct. 19.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

New releases and singles were announced over the past few days by a handful of touring indie bands who have included Omaha on their upcoming tours. Let us celebrate each.

On top of the list is Sextile, the LA-based electro / No Wave trio will be playing at The Waiting Room Oct. 19. The last time I saw these folks they were playing a set at Blackstone Meatball during a Farnam Fest back in 2017. Their new album, Push, is out Sept. 15 on Sacred Bones Records, and is, as the kids say, fire. 

Phoenix act Diners a.k.a. Blue Broderick, is playing Reverb Lounge Sept. 6. Their new album, Domino, comes out Aug. 18 on Bar/None Records. Here’s the first single:

Speedy Ortiz is back and always seems to remember poor little Omaha when she’s putting together her tour stops, and this time ‘round is no exception. Frontwoman Sadie Dupuis and her posse will be playing The Slowdown with Spacemoth Nov. 17. Yesterday they dropped the first single from their next album, Rabbit Rabbit, which comes out Sept. 1 on Wax Nine Records. Check it:

Durham, NC’s Hiss Golden Messenger is the project of M.C. Taylor. The singer/songwriter’s style leans on Americana and Country. Their new album, Jump for Joy, comes out on Merge Aug. 25, and the band is slated to play The Waiting Room Dec. 1. 

Finally, it’s old news for sure but Wilco is returning to Omaha, playing at the new Astro Theater Oct. 23. The band announced their new album, Cousin, will drop Sept. 29 on dBpm Records. Check out the first single, “Evicted,” that dropped yesterday.

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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.

Lazy-i

Feeble Little Horse takes a break; new Speedy Ortiz, Ebba Rose album release tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , — @ 7:39 am June 29, 2023

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. 

. 0 0 0 . 

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:

. 0 0 0 . 

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.

Lazy-i

#TBT: Reliving 2015 SXSW in audio form (Speedy Ortiz, Laura Burhenn, Icky Blossoms, Natalie Prass, Courtney Barnett, The Residents, The Pop Group, more…)

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , , — @ 6:59 am March 23, 2023
White Mystery at Beerland Patio, March 18, 2015.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Flipping through Lazy-i for #ThrowbackThursday I came across this entry, published eight years ago, that compiled three days of South by Southwest 2015 reporting in three podcast episodes that captured descriptions and performances by White Mystery, Twin Shadow, Speedy Ortiz, PUJOL, Laura Burhenn, Icky Blossoms, Viet Cong, Krill, Natalie Prass, Courtney Barnett, Best Coast, LITE, Drivin’ and Cryin’, The Residents, The Pop Group and Will Butler, along with photos from each performance. 

Eight years ago I was first experimenting with podcasting, having caught the bug from listening to the Serial Podcast, and if you dig around Lazy-i you’ll find podcast episodes embedded into entries that captured local and national performances on Omaha clubs along with interviews from around Omaha. The weekly podcast, which summarized my week of Lazy-i reporting and the shows I went to that week, was fun to produce, but I did the whole damn thing by myself with semi-professional audio equipment using Garageband for editing – what a grind!

Now eight years later, it’s a running joke that everyone has their own podcast. In fact, Emmy winning series Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is a series about a podcast. As more of my free time opens up in the coming year(s), I’d like to do another podcast, but this time with some help!

The podcast never had huge listener numbers – somewhere between 200 and 300 per episode spread out across numerous hosting platforms, including iTunes, Libsyn and Soundcloud – podcast hosting was not easy back then. Considering I was using a hand-held Zoom H2 recorder and MacBook with no sound mixing or mastering, it didn’t sound half bad, especially the live recordings. Who knows how this would have sounded had an audio engineer been involved… 

Anyway, check out the post for all the photos or just listen below:

Day 1: Performances by White Mystery, Twin Shadow, Dotan and Speedy Ortiz.

Day 2: Performances by PUJOL, Laura Burhenn (Mynabirds), Icky Blossoms, Viet Cong, Krill and Natalie Prass.

Day 3: Performances by Courtney Barnett, Best Coast, LITE, Drivin’ and Cryin’, The Pop Group and Will Butler.

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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.

Lazy-i

Leafblower, Skating Polly Saturday; Speedy Ortiz, Xetas, Laura Burhenn Sunday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 12:24 pm June 15, 2018

Speedy Ortiz at O’Leaver’s, 8/15/15. The band plays Sunday night at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

We’ve entered “avoid downtown” season as the College World Series gets under way this weekend. Funny thing about CWS, it does make life around the so-called “No Do” area unbearable, but the rest of downtown — the Old Market, etc. — is usually pretty quiet during CWS as the fans seem to be content congregating around the tents. Let’s keep them there, shall we?

There isn’t a thing going on (that I could find) indie-music wise tonight.

Tomorrow night (Saturday) get ready to get smoked out at fabulous O’Leaver’s when Leafblower returns to the stage. They’re opening for Nashville indie band QuicheNight. Sidewalkers kicks it off at 10 p.m. $5.

Also Saturday night Oklahoma City indie-pop trio Skating Polly headlines at Reverb Lounge. Potty Mouth and Histrionic open. 9 p.m., $12 DOS.

Sunday night Speedy Ortiz returns to Omaha, this time to Reverb Lounge. Their new album, Twerp Verse (2018, Carpark), was originally going to be a collection of love songs by front woman Sadie Dupuis, but with the world the way it is these days, Sadie changed course.

The songs on the album that were strictly personal or lovey dovey just didn’t mean anything to me anymore–that’s not the kind of music I’ve found healing or motivating in the past few years, and I was surprised I’d written so much of it,” Dupuis said. “Social politics and protest have been a part of our music from day one, and I didn’t want to stop doing that on this album.”

Anna Burch (Polyvinyl Records) and Austin garage giants Xetas (12XU Record) opens this stacked line-up at 9 p.m. $15 DOS.

Finally Mynabirds’ Laura Burhenn opens for Portland indie-folkies Horse Feathers (Kill Rock Stars) at The Waiting Room Sunday night. $17, 8 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.

Lazy-i

Mailbag: Speedy loves Mogis; new Nik Freitas; new SAVAK video; Brad Hoshaw, Charlie Parr tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — @ 12:38 pm May 8, 2018

Brad Hoshaw at The Shark Club, March 19, 2016. Hoshaw plays tonight at Reverb Lounge.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Tuesday is becoming mail-bag catch-up day…

Speedy Ortiz’s third album, Twerp Verse, came out last week on Carpark Records. As part of the media blitz, Speedy’s Sadie Dupuis did an interview with The 405 where she declares her undying love for ARC’s Mike Mogis, who mixed the new album.

From the interview:

You worked with Mike Mogis on this album, how did he come into it?

Dupuis: Yes! We’ve been in touch with Mogis for years about doing a record. We became friends, probably three years ago, and I obviously am such a big fan of his. Maybe that’s not an obvious thing, but my holy trinity when I was in 9th and 10th grade were Bright Eyes, Cursive and Rilo Kiley, and I would order by mail Saddle Creek records. He was the first producer that I remember knowing the name of, so it was really very cool that we found out he was a fan of Speedy, and had invited us to come see his studio, and now every time we go through Omaha we stay with him.

So we’d been wanting to do this record for a few years and the timing didn’t really work out for him to record it, but we were able to carve out some time for him to mix it. It’s the longest time I’ve ever spent in Omaha, normally I’m there for one or two nights, and we were there for close to three weeks. He’s obviously a thorough producer, but working with him as a mix engineer was so much more involved than any mixing process we’ve gone through; he really pays attention to the tiniest thing. For me, someone who’s an aspiring producer, it was really educational to see what kind of things he picks up on. Lyrics really matter to him in a way that I don’t think they always do to producers, especially when they’re strictly focused on the mixing. He’s automating every word so that everything’s audible, and just thinking very hard about the tone choices we made and how he can improve upon them. He has such an amazing assortment of gear that he’s collected over his however-many years of producing stuff, so that was really fun, to see what cool toys he’d be putting my guitars through on this particular track or day. So, yeah, only amazing things to say about Mogis, I really hope that we get to do a record from start to finish with him, maybe next time around. And what a childhood dream accomplished it was to do anything with him.

There’s more at The 405.

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Mystic Valley Band member Nik Freitas dropped his first single, “What A Mess,” from his upcoming solo album Dark & Day out June 29. Among the guests on the record is Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor.

Freitas is also slated to play at fabulous O’Leaver’s June 8 with Miwi Laupa.

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Former Omahan Mike Jaworski’s latest project SAVAK dropped a new video from their sophomore album Cut-Ups (out now on Ernest Jenning Record Co.) called “Christo’s Peers (Soon We’ll Be Floating).” The band is headed to Europe next week for a handful of dates.

 

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As you may or may not know, Brad Hoshaw is moving away to the West Coast. I’m not sure of the dates or reasons, just that he’s leaving. Which makes tonight’s opening gig at Reverb Lounge for Charlie Parr all that more important. Get yourself some Hoshaw while you can. $10, 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 © 2018 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

 

Lazy-i

Boris, Lung, The Natural States tonight; Speedy Ortiz, Bob Log III, Whipkey Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , — @ 12:41 pm October 20, 2017

Speedy Ortiz at O’Leaver’s, 8/15/15. The band plays Saturday night at Slowdown, Jr.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Welcome to the weekend. Here we go…

Tonight, Japanese noise rock band Boris (Sargent House Records) headlines at The Waiting Room with Subrosa and Endon. $20, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile at fabulous O’Leaver’s the cello and drum duo of Lung (members of Foxy Shazam) headlines tonight with Crybaby and Screaming Plastic. $5, 9:30 p.m.

While over at Brothers Lounge The Natural States headlines with Number One Hit Kids (ex-Wolf Dealer) and Anonymous Henchmen. $5, 9 p.m.

And Satchel Grande plays The Slowdown main room tonight with Domestic Blend. $8, 9 p.m.

The big show Saturday night is the return of Speedy Ortiz, this time to Slowdown Jr. They’re opening for Tera Melos, a band that plays rough, angular math rock, very proggy, very syncopated, very dissonant, very good (if you’re into that sort of thing). The harsh rhythms are cut nicely by Nick Reinhart’s smooth vocals. From Sacramento. On Sargent House. Oquoa opens the evening at 9 p.m. $13 Adv./$15 DOS.

Also Saturday night, Bob Log III, the one-man slide guitarist who wears a motorcycle helmet, plays at O’Leaver’s with Lincoln’s Her Flyaway Manner and our very own Lupines. $10, 9 p.m.

And way out at Growler USA Matt Whipkey and his band play a free show Saturday night that starts at 9 p.m.

And 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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Lazy-i

Ten Questions with Sad13 (Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz), at Milk Run Nov. 25…

Category: Blog,Interviews — Tags: , , , — @ 1:39 pm November 22, 2016

Sad13 a.k.a. Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz plays Milk Run Friday night, Nov. 25.

Sad13 a.k.a. Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz plays Milk Run Friday night, Nov. 25.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Sad13 is Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz out on her own doing the solo thing; and when I say “solo” I’m talking solo-solo: Dupuis wrote, sang, played guitar, recorded and produced her recently released solo debut, Slugger (2016, Carpark), all by her lonesome.

I don’t know who Lindy West is other than being a good writer. She had this to say about Dupuis’ new record:

It’s very strange (“Or not strange at all! Hi!” says feminism) that most of the music we funnel into little girls’ ears — even music written by former little girls — is about how women are petty, pretty garbage whose only valuable function is to hold perfectly still in men’s boudoirs and wait for intercourse. “I wanted to make songs that were the opposite of ‘Genie in A Bottle’ or ‘The Boy Is Mine,’” Sadie Dupuis says of Slugger, her new solo album under the name Sad13. “Songs that put affirmative consent at the heart of the subject matter and emphasize friendship among women and try to deescalate the toxic jealousy and ownership that are often centered in romantic pop songs.” What!? Songs for women that actually champion women’s autonomy, reflect women’s desires, listen to women when they talk, and let women be funny and normal and cool, like women actually are?

Indeed. Lindy references Tacocat, Waxahatchee, Mitski and Bully in the comparisons. I’ll add early Liz Phair and Eleanor Friedberger to the list. And, of course, Speedy Ortiz, who Dupuis doesn’t stray too far from musically.

I asked Dupuis to take my 10 Questions Survey. Here’s what she had to say:

1. What is your favorite album?

Sadie Dupuis: I am very skeptical of musicians who can definitively name *one favorite album* but Helado Negro’s Private Energy and Solange’s A Seat At the Table are probably my favorite albums released this season.

2. What is your least favorite song? 



R. Kelly “Ignition (Remix)” because I fucking despise R. Kelly but the beat is good and I always accidentally wind up dancing to that before I realize what it is.

3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band? 



All the free water bottles and hummus backstage.

4. What do you hate about being in a band?

How it’s changed my perceptions on hummus.

5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?

Yerba mate!

6. In what city or town do you love to perform?

Omaha! And Mexico City.

7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)? 



On our first tour Speedy Ortiz played in Missoula and 0 people showed up aside from the promoter. So we just had a noise jam by ourselves in a VFW.

8. Are you able to support yourself through your music? If so, how long did it take to get there; if not, how do you pay your bills? 



Music’s the day job and covers my basic living expenses but I’m not really raking it in and have to spend almost all of the year on tour or recording music in order to make it at that level. And I definitely take on lots of odd gigs here and there. I quit my day job in 2013; I was 25 years old. And I’ve been playing in bands since I was 13 or 14, which is around the same time I got my first job.

9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do? 



I taught at UMass Amherst prior to touring full time. Would do it again! Worst job for me would be anything that supported the prison industrial complex.

10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska? 



I’ve been quite a few times. Y’all have some really great bloody marys.

Sad13 plays with Vagabon and Mannequin Pussy Friday, Nov. 25, at Milk Run, 1907 Leavenworth St. Tickets are $10. Showtime is 9 p.m. For more information, go to facebook.com/milkrunomaha.

Lazy-i