Assault And Battery Play Walker’s Point Music Hall
Milwaukee streetpunk five-piece Assault and Battery returned with their first show since Quarters in February, playing the new Walker’s Point Music Hall Saturday night alongside Detroit thrash band Against the Grain and Appleton punks Deathwish.
Assault and Battery consist of vocalist Bobby DeVillers, lead guitarist Patsy Wahlberg, rhythm guitarist Kevin Herwig, bassist Richie Murry, and drummer Johnny Ragonese. They describe themselves as “working-class punk.”
The band’s last album “All the Shades of Truth” came out in 2016, and they are currently working on a new 7″ to be released this summer. They played three songs off it Saturday; the subject matter includes the fall of Western civilization, the demise of the punk scene, and “other shit we don’t know about,” according to the band.
“It’s gonna be better. In the many years we’ve been a band we learned how to play,” Murry said sarcastically.
The band speaks highly of the new Walker’s Point venue.
“It’s a good mid-size spot for bands that you can’t have at a regular bar,” Murry said. “The dude that runs it, Jim, actually gives a shit about taking care of bands and everything…more than anyone I’ve ever talked to.”
Assault and Battery believe Milwaukee’s music scene is far more devoted to hardcore music than it used to be.
“It’s actually ever-changing,” Johnny said. “It used to be just one scene at a show but now it’s people from all different scenes at a show.”
“It’s not as segregated,” Patsy added. “Everyone hated each other ten years ago.”
“We play whatever we want and that covers all kinds of what people would call genres of music,” Herwig said. “We just play what we like to play and that attracts everybody.”
Assault and Battery are setting up a summer tour to accompany the release of their new 7″, which will take them to cities such as Chicago, Tulsa, and Detroit.
