Minneapolis: This Week (01/14/2024)

Yellow Ostrich

with Bathtub Cig and Megasound
at Icehouse

first-avenue.com

It’s Yellow Ostrich’s 3rd Annual Winter Shindig residency at the
Icehouse, starting on January 10th, 2024.

Yellow Ostrich (12 Feb 2014)

We saw Yellow Ostrich at Pianos, in New York, in Feb 2014 and wrote, “I listened to Yellow Ostrich’s music the day before the show and knew immediately that I wanted to see them live. They have a lo-fi indie rock sound with vocals from Alex Schaaf (also member of The Chairs) whose voice is a mixture of fun.’s Nate Ruess and Ben Folds. Other band members include talented musicians: Jared Van Fleet (guitar/keyboard), Zach Rose (bass), and Michael Tapper (drums).”

The band writes:

Yellow Ostrich’s Winter Shindig is back for a third year in January 2024, taking place over four consecutive Wednesdays. Each week will feature different setlists and surprises, along with different supporting bands each night (hand-picked by YO).

Yellow Ostrich is a long-running project led by Minneapolis-based songwriter Alex Schaaf, who started the band in Brooklyn in 2010 before moving it to the Midwest. The band released Soft in 2022 on Barsuk Records, the first new music in seven years to be released by Schaaf under the Yellow Ostrich moniker, since he paused the project to explore new musical identities on a handful of excellent self-released albums. This was followed by Make it Make Sense (EP) in January of 2023. The latest full-length, Soft, takes its name from the lyric that stands as a thesis for the entire album, a beautiful and haunting rumination on the pitfalls and pressures of traditional masculinity and on Schaaf’s drive toward vulnerability and tenderness as core tenets of his being.

Bathtub Cig is the intimate depression pop project of Hilary James. Born in a Minneapolis bedroom the spring of 2017, it is an honest attempt at coping with her long struggle with mental health. She is joined by Dave Power on drums, Skyler Nowinski on bass, and Hannah Heble on synth, flute and harmony. Their 2018 debut EP “Old Light” draws comparisons to a synth-pop version of Frankie Cosmo with raw lyrics.

2021 Ep “bed” is both a dream-like and hazy musing on quarantine as well as a heartbreaking attempt to cope with grief. In a departure from James’ first full band EP “Old Light”, this new release is a stripped down solo voyage. Hilary is joined by Addie Strei (Adelyn Rose) on clarinet, flute, and bass to create beautiful textures to balance out the loneliness of the electric guitar. Their 2022 debut full length “Night Blindness” has been described as a clever and dark Gen Z Ode, putting our hardest thoughts into music.

Megasound is a rock band brought to you by the minds behind Bad Bad Hats (Kerry Alexander and Chris Hoge) and Party Nails (Elana Carroll).

Tour dates:

Best New Bands of 2023

featuring Barlow • Ber • Clare Doyle • LAAMAR • L.A. Buckner & BiG HOMiE • REIKI • she’s green
at First Avenue

first-avenue.com

It’s the annual Best New Bands series, which usually at First Avenue or one of their venues. This year will be hosted by The Current’s Jill Riley, Radio K’s Grace Williams, KFAI’s Krista Wax, and Jazz88’s Sean McPherson.

She’s Green (27 Sep 2023)

We’ve seen a few of these artists, for example She’s Green from 27 Sep 2023, “Local shoegazing band she’s green, featuring Zofia on vocals, Teddy on bass, Liam on guitars, Raines on guitars, and Kevin on drums, opened the show. Although, according to Zofia, the group is from the area, but it was their first time playing the Turf Club. We’ve previously mentioned their Minneapolis shows, such as in August 2023 or January 2022 … but never mentioned they’ve played St Paul. The group is still relatively new, so they’re introducing some new songs, such as “Clobber”. At least that’s the title they currently agreed on. Their debut EP, Wisteria came out in June 2023.”

Bands on the bill:

Jack Klatt

with Molly Dean
at Turf Club

first-avenue.com

Minneapolis’ Jack Klatt will be headlining the Clown Lounge (this is the venue that is located underneath the Turf Club) on January 12, 2024.



The folk singer’s latest Edge of the End EP is out today on Yep Roc Records. The EP was recorded at Bombshelter Studios in Nashville, and was produced by GRAMMY-nominated Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes).



Talking about the EP, Klatt said, “Being from Minnesota, there is something about the West Texas landscape that resets my brain… I was in the Chihuahuan desert, the land of coyotes and border patrol, no lakes, or trees, just a wide-open harsh landscape filled with dust and brush, a blank canvas. Not only did it feel like our whole world was teetering on some apocalyptic precipice, I, too, felt like I was at the edge of the end, physically and emotionally. I made it all the way to Big Bend national park and purified myself in the waters of the Rio Grande. The end is only a new beginning, depending on how you look at it.”



Molly Dean to open.

Molly Dean (25 Sep 2022)

We saw Molly Dean (from Moon & Pollution) in 25 Sep 2022 and wrote, “Right off the bat, Dean said she was taking off her shoes. She does this because she uses her feet to start and stop looping. If you’re unfamiliar with this technique, a lot of solo musicians create loops so it can add to their music. For example, if you want a percussion sound, you simply record some taps and let the recording loop run while you play your guitar, etc. If it works, the songs sound like one or more people are collaborating on the song.”