If you followed Saddle Creek in the early 2000s, odds are you know the history of indie rock band Criteria, too. After Steve Pedersen, a founding member of Cursive, came back to Omaha from studying law at Duke University, he whipped up enough songs for an album and recruited big names in Omaha music lore, A.J. Mogis, Mike Sweeney and Aaron Druery, to join him in his new project. In its short run, Criteria dropped a pair of albums mixing the down-tuned, chugging guitars of early-aughts post-hardcore with the anthemic hooks and ear-splitting leads of bands like Desaparecidos and At The Drive-In. Criteria only plays on occasion now, but the band is making a return before the end of 2017, playing at The Waiting Room with local indie rock bands Little Brazil and Noah’s Ark Was A Spaceship.
