Live Review: Those Far Out Arrows; new Lupines track; Redd Kross tonight…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , — @ 12:42 pm April 17, 2017

Those Far Out Arrows at Reverb Lounge, April 14, 2017.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The last time I saw Those Far Out Arrows they were a trio, with the brothers switching off on drums. The new four-piece version that played last Friday night at Reverb Lounge, with full-time drummer, was a different band — over-the-top energy crushing psychedelic garage rock that was dense, brutal and trippy. I heard someone in the crowd compare them to the Flaming Groovies, a more colorful comparison than the usual Brian Jonestown Massacre nod.

Though there’s a retro tinge to their music, TFOA are thoroughly modern, like the best of today’s Goner-style garage acts, though cleaner and more prof. In fact, less raw. It’s that rawness that defines Goner/In the Red, etc., brittle low-fi garage noise. This is not that. TFOA’s is more refined, which could be seen as a minus in the eyes of some purists.

For me, a lot of those low-fi garage/noise acts have substituted rawness for creativity; booming bridled fuzz for a lack of an original sound (or song). By contrast, you can enjoy the Arrows’ music without wondering if you’re missing the gimmick.

Like I said, this version sounds nothing like what you might have heard in the past or on their previous recordings, which could be rather droney/dour sailing. All the more reason why they need to get their new 7-inch pressed and out for the world to hear.

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Speaking of new garage rock, The Lupines yesterday dropped their latest track on Bandcamp, and its ferocious as ever. Check it out below. One assumes (hopes) there’s more to come…

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Classic ’90s indie band Redd Kross (who remembers the single “Annie’s Gone”?) is back and playing tonight at Slowdown Jr.. The band disappeared for a long time, then reemerged in 2006 and put out LP Researching the Blues in 2012 on Merge Records. Vegetable Deluxe opens this 8 p.m. show. $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 © 2017 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved,

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Live Review: The Lupines; another quiet week ahead…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , — @ 1:55 pm January 27, 2014
The Lupines at O'Leaver's, Jan. 24, 2014.

The Lupines at O’Leaver’s, Jan. 24, 2014.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

I realized while listening to The Lupines Friday night at O’Leaver’s along with about 40 others that I was watching a local “super group” of sorts. John Ziegler proudly carried the banner for local garage rock for years first in the controversially named Zyklon Bees then as Brimstone Howl. New drummer Calvin Retzlaff also was a member of Brimstone. Guitarist Mike Friedman is arguably one of the best guitarists in Omaha, featured prominently in Simon Joyner projects and most recently joining Little Brazil. and Mike Tulis has been a fixture in the Nebraska music scene for more than a decade, going back to Full Blown through a handful of classic Speed! Nebraska bands.

So yeah, taken as a whole, The Lupines are definitely a super group, or better yet, a super garage band. Needless to say they played like the rock veterans that they are on songs that epitomize the style of music that Brimstone was known for — hard, chopping rock songs that balanced Ziegler’s vocals with Friedman’s blazing solos while a tight rhythm section held it all together. It was exactly what you’d expect from a super garage band. What more can I say other than it was a fun night of music and you should go out of your way to find a copy of the new EP, titled Over the Moon and released on the mighty Speed! Nebraska label.

One last thing: There is some exciting things going on at fabulous O’Leaver’s which you may or may not know about and which I don’t know if I can talk about publicly. It’s not a huge deal, just a new opportunity for bands coming through the club. I’ll see what I can say and let you know.

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It’s another quiet week show-wise. In fact, I don’t see anything until Friday, when the ball starts rolling again. And with this cold weather, maybe it’s for the best….?

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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.

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Lupines CD release show, Califone tonight; Band Build (Millions of Boys), Take Cover Lincoln Saturday…

Category: Blog — Tags: , — @ 1:56 pm January 24, 2014
The Lupines, Over the Moon (2014, Speed! Nebraska)

The Lupines, Over the Moon (2014, Speed! Nebraska)

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Here we go.

Tonight at fabulous O’Leaver’s it’s a celebration of the release of The Lupines’ debut EP, Over the Moon (Speed! Nebraska Records). The six-song CD features John Ziegler (ex Brimstone Howl) on vocals/guitar, along with Javid Dabestani, drums; Mike Friedman, lead guitar, and Mike Tulis, bass. If you dug Brimstone’s brand of garage rock/punk, you’ll love this one just as much. Read the Hear Nebraska interview with Mr. Ziegler himself. Opening is Bullet Proof Hearts. $5, 9:30 p.m. Check out out opening track “Everlasting Man,” below:

Also tonight, Chicago artrock band Califone (Dead Oceans Records) headlines at Slowdown Jr. William Tyler (Lambchop, Silver Jews, Merge Records) opens. $12, 9 p.m. Check out a preview of Califone’s latest release, Stitches, below:

Tomorrow night The Waiting Room hosts a benefit for Habitat for Humanity Omaha called Band Build. Performers include Millions of Boys, Field Club, The Big Deep and headliner Voodoo Method. $12 Adv/$15 DOS. Starts at 8 p.m.

Meanwhile down in Lincoln, Hear Nebraska hosts Pt. 2 of its Take Cover series at Vega. Same rules as Omaha: Each artist will cover one song by a fellow Nebraska artist as well as play one original. Performers include Eli Mardock, Liz Hitt (The Terminals), Jon Taylor & Heidi Ore (Domestica), Aaron Parker (Gordon), Jon Dell (Universe Contest) and a tons more. $7, 9 p.m. More info here.

Also Saturday night, Lincoln punkers The Killigans play at Slowdown Jr. with Thirst Things Thirst, The Bishops and DJ Dan DeTour. $7, 9 p.m.

Finally on Sunday night Grammy winner Patty Griffin headlines at The Waiting Room with Anais Mitchell. $15, 8 p.m.

Did I forget something? 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.

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Lupines go in studio and online; Icky Blossoms/Capgun Coup go video; The Newsroom V. Stewart/Colbert (in the column); InDreama, R.Ring (Kelley Deal of The Breeders) tonight…

Category: Blog — Tags: , , , , — @ 12:59 pm July 12, 2012
A still from the new Icky Blossoms' video.

A still from the new Icky Blossoms' video.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

The Lupines (or, as I like to call them, The O’Leaver’s All-Stars) have three songs on Soundcloud for your review and reflection. “They’re fully tracked studio songs that the great Mark Wohlberg recorded at Plan C in Lincoln about 18 months ago,” said Lupines’ guitarist/vocalist John Ziegler. “I did all the tracks myself when it became more clear that Brimstone Howl was on its last legs. That’s why the drumming is very basic and sometimes slightly off, the former of which I really like.”

The rest of the Lupines are guitarist Mike Friedman (ex-Movies, member of Simon Joyner and the Fallen Men), bass player Mike Tulis (Monroes, Fullblown, Sons of ___, and the Third Men), and drummer Javid Dabestani (Ghost Runners, among others). “We’re working on proper, full-band recordings, some of which are the same songs and will sound pretty different, and will definitely have more ‘kinetic’ bounce than what I was able to make on my own,” Ziegler said. “Nonetheless, the songs on soundcloud right now are not basement tapes or demos, and I think they represent the sound of the band’s music well enough, as well as being a really good example of Mark Wohlberg’s analog perspicacity. They’re part of a nine-song session.”

Ziegler said release of the nine-song session is pending, and the band has a show Aug. 30 at the Barley Street Tavern. Until then, enjoy:

The Luplines, “I Blame Creation”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52232041″ iframe=”true” /]

The Lupines “Everlasting Man”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52231574″ iframe=”true” /]

The Lupines, “Ohio”
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/52230511″ iframe=”true” /]

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Icky Blossoms’ latest video is an epic love story realized to the song “Perfect Vision,” off their new album, which hits store shelves next Tuesday. You can check it out on Vimeo here. Wonder whose house got the demolished in the making of this modern masterpiece?

Also premiered this week was the new video by Capgun Coup for “Laugh Cry,” off their latest album Contextual Doom released on the ORG Music label.  Check it out here. Sweet!

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This week’s Over the Edge column takes a look at the new HBO series The Newsroom — is it a drama or satire, and is wordy scripter Aaron Sorkin trying to influence the electorate a la Colbert/Stewart? You can read it in this week’s issue of The Reader, or online right here.

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Tonight’s show at The Waiting Room is one of the best $8 shows I’ve seen scheduled in a long time. Opening is InDreams, the psychedelic/dance/rock project of Icky Blossoms’ guitarist Nik Fackler, along with local legend Dereck Higgins, Ashley Miller, Sam Martin (Capgun Coup), Aaron Gum, Craig D (Tilly & the Wall), Kevin Donahue, and Mason Brown. With Icky blowing up all over the place, it’s good to see Nik keep his foot firmly planted in this project. Also opening is Atlanta’s Hollow Stars fronted by former Deerhunter guitarist Colin Mee and featuring David Matysiak (Coyote Bones), Devin Brown and Mason Brown. Finally, the headliners: R.Ring is Mike Montgomery of Ampline and Kelley Deal of The Breeders. After listening to one of their songs online, it’s safe to say this may be the closest we’ll ever get to seeing The Breeders live. $8, 9 p.m.

Also tonight, the Nebraska Pop Festival continues at The Barley Street Tavern with Union Specific (Austin), Orion Walsh (Lincoln), Chasing Shade (Iowa City), Seedlings (Des Moines), In Love (Omaha), and Elijah Jett (Michael Todd, the managing editor of Hear Nebraska). $7, 7:30 p.m. Check out the full schedule here.

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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.

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Live Review: The Lupines; Speed! Nebraska 15 tonight; Lonely Estates, Digital Leather Saturday…

Category: Blog,Reviews — Tags: , , — @ 2:20 pm November 11, 2011
The Lupines at O'Leaver's, Nov. 10, 2011.

The Lupines at O'Leaver's, Nov. 10, 2011.

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

First up last night was the screening of The Adventures of Prince Achmed to what looked like a more-than-half-filled crowd at Film Streams. Jake Bellows, Ryan Fox and Ben Brodin set up shop in the first row of the facility’s big auditorium, where amps glowed just under the screen. I’m happy that I remembered to bring earplugs. It was loud. Not painfully loud, but loud for such an enclosed space.

It also was trippy. Very trippy. The images by themselves were a psychedelic head-trip without Bellows & Co’s innovative “score,” which glided between somber ambient tone shifts, electro-dance mantras, space-folk feedback and chord-driven mountain rock. I wouldn’t say the styles seamlessly matched the screen, but most of the time I found myself lost in Achmed’s weird Eastern netherworld filled with wizards and monsters and proud people doing magical things.

BTW, next up in the Silents in Concert series Dec. 1 is the 1966 surf classic The Endless Summer, featuring music by Matteah Baim, whose ’09 album, Laughing Boy (Dicristina Records), got a 7.2 at Pitchfork.

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Next, it was off to beautiful O’Leaver’s for the debut of The Lupines. While writing this before work this morning, I listened to Brimstone Howl’s Big Deal album, trying to ascertain the “differentiators” between that band and this, John Ziegler’s new project. There were obvious similarities, not the least of which was Ziegler’s big-shouldered vocals delivered with its familiar dead-pan snarl on garage rock songs that dwell on the downside of love.

If you like Brimstone, you’ll like Lupines. The real difference (to me) was Mike Friedman’s guitar. Friedman has always been a secret weapon in any band he’s played in — one of Omaha’s best unheralded guitarists. The “unheralded” status may be at risk now that he’s in this band, especially once people hear his freak-out solos and their interplay with Ziegler’s own frenetic guitar style. Holding it together was Iron Mike Tulis’ rock-steady bass lines and  Javid Dabestani’s forward-leaning drums.

If anything, The Lupines seem less campy and more punk than Brimstone ever was, and at the same time (ironically) more serious and more refined. For a debut performance, they were tight as tics and sounded ready to enter a studio, but I guess that’s what you’d expect from this band of rock veterans.

Openers, Detroit rockers Gardens, were a by-the-numbers garage band with brief forays into psych rock and a gift for between-song gab. “We just drove from Denver,” said the drummer. “There was nothing to see. Not even any trees. Just cow concentration camps. This next one’s a big kiss for Omaha.” Unfortunately I didn’t see any of the dozen or so people on hand puckering up.

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Busy, busy weekend.

On top of the list tonight is, of course, the Speed! Nebraska 15th Anniversary rock show at The Brothers Lounge, which you read about yesterday. On the bill: Ideal Cleaners, The Wagon Blasters, Domestica, Techlepathy and The Filter Kings. Show starts at 9 and will run you $5. This one should be a hoot.

Also tonight being held at clubs throughout Benson is the OEA Nominee Showcase. The $10 entry fee gets you into The Waiting Room, Burke’s Pub, Benson Grind, The Barley Street Tavern and PS Collective all night. For the full run-down of bands, go to http://oea-awards.com/

Also going on tonight in Benson (but not affiliated with the OEA event) is the Down with the Ship CD EP release show at The Sydney with Arrah and the Ferns (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Bazooka Shootout. $5, 9 p.m.

Also tonight (but not in Benson) is Ragged Company’s CD release show at The Side Door Lounge. 9 p.m. and absolutely free.

And jeeze… did I almost forget Depressed Buttons are performing down at House of Loom tonight? Brent Crampton opens. $5, 10 p.m.

On Saturday night the decisions become even tougher.

At The Waiting Room, Lonely Estates has its CD release show for their new self-released album The Invertebrate. Lonely Estates is former members of Malpias (minus Greg Loftus) and includes David and Luke Backhaus, Phil Reno, Scott Evans and fronted by Braden Rapp, The album was recorded by AJ Mogis at ARC Studios. I’ve been listening to it off and on for the past couple of weeks and would say its sound is huddled under the same indie rock umbrella as Criteria and Little Brazil. Big, soaring anthems with big, soaring vocals and guitar solos and lots of harmonies. Worth checking out. Opening the show is Brad Hoshaw and the Seven Deadlies, New Lungs and Blue Bird. Quite a lineup. $8, 9 p.m.

But…

Over at O’Leaver’s Saturday night it’s the return of Digital Leather — and I’ve never seen a bad O’Leaver’s Digital Leather show. Add to that Noah’s Ark Was a Spaceship and you’ve got another solid rock bill. $5, 9 p.m.

Can I go to both shows? No, I can’t.

Also going on Saturday night, Lincoln instrumental rock trio Machete Archive plays at The Sandbox with Fetal Pig, Super Invader, Class M Planets and 13th Year. $8, 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at The Barley Street Tavern Saturday night, Jake Bellows breaks away from his work at ARC studio to perform along with The Betties and one more band. $5, 9 p.m.

The weekend ends Sunday night at The Slowdown when City and Colour takes the stage with Hacienda and David Romano. Tickets are $22/$25 DOS (and I hear they’re going fast). Show starts at 9.

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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.

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