Saturday night saw yet another edition from East Side DIY favorite The Murray Attic, which has become a staple for Milwaukee indie bands to play. Entertainment this time came from Oshkosh rockers Horace Greene, Chicago soul band Violet Crime, power pop band Versio Curs, grunge punk outfit Clem, and pop rockers Will Pfrang and the Good Land Gang.

Although only an attic space, the Murray Attic has succeeded with monthly gigs, generating a mixture of neighborhood music fanatics and greater Milwaukee scene aficionados to come out and pack the show heavy. Anthony Masanz is the proprietor, planner, and host. Set design and band photography is handled by Breaking and Entering’s very own Mckayla Heuer.

Horace Greene play a blend of soul, synth-pop, and groovy indie rock. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Tony Oakley, bassist Sam Swetlik, and drummer Logan Lamers. The band’s name is certainly a School of Rock reference, but they also wanted to play under “an old man’s name.” Although regular contenders in the Fox Valley area, the band are no strangers to Milwaukee’s musical sphere.

“The attic is very apocalyptic,” Oakley said. “I feel like I’m in a Fallout game.”

Horace Greene’s latest album, “The Diamond Engine,” came out in 2018. They describe it as having more stylistic diversity and background vocals than their 2016 album “Early American Ice Cream.”

The band is supposedly “one of like three indie rock bands” from Oshkosh.

“There’s more of an underground scene up there,” Swetlik said. “It’s a lot more house shows. We’re kind of seeing a resurgence right now with new venues and stuff. But there was a lull for awhile where we were one of the only bands playing around.”

“There’s a lot of great bands in Oshkosh,” Oakley added. “I wish there were more opportunities for them to play.”

Horace Greene plan to release a couple new singles this year. They play MKE Ale House on April 12th and MKE Music Night at Club Garibaldi’s on May 24th.

Clem is a grunge punk band originally from Rockford, IL, now relocated to Milwaukee. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Joe Altamore, lead guitarist Bennett Gillies, and drummer Corey Garcia. They are currently in search of a new permanent bassist.

Probably the most energetic band of the evening, a mosh pit began up front during Clem’s set, making the floor wobble. No one was safe.

“Some dude kicked my pedal board, but it stayed on so that was pretty tight,” Gillies chuckled.

Clem have been a band since the late 2000’s, originally just Altamore and Gillies. Garcia has been in the band for about three years. They moved to Milwaukee for college, and prefer Milwaukee’s music scene for its opportunities and voluntary support from the scene. Their first show here was JJ Kaiser’s basement.

“Right now Milwaukee is really up and coming in terms of DIY, especially with houses like these,” Garcia said. “we knew some of the guys in Milwaukee that had house shows we played at, so we really came up to Milwaukee at a really good time.”

“In Rockford you would never have a show this packed,” Altamore added. “Kids used to pack house venues like this but they don’t do that anymore.”

Clem’s sound is much heavier than it used to be; having been poppier in the band’s earlier years. They attribute this to their natural evolution as a group, as well as the addition of Garcia as drummer.

“I felt like when they sent me those songs and I started writing with them, what I was able to bring to the table helped us get along so well and we wrote like five songs in two weeks,” Garcia recalled from his inception into Clem.

Clem’s most recent effort is their 2017 EP “This Will Hurt.” The band is currently working on a new full-length.

“It’s been kind of a problem because we don’t really have the audience yet that we need for this record.” Altamore said. “A full-length is a difficult undertaking for any band and we spent two years writing it. At least the singles are gonna be coming out this year.”

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