Columbus-based noise/sludge/punk band Drunks With Guns made their first appearance in the state of Wisconsin at Bremen Cafe Thursday night, filling up the room with an excited crowd. Local bands Florida Brothers Band and Aluminum Knot Eye opened.

Florida Brothers Band consists of vocalist Chris Loker, bassist Nate Metcalf and drummer Ross Miller. They are a punk band who have been around for seven or eight years and are known for their aesthetic – each member wears matching wrestling outfits (gotten from wrestlingoutlet.com). “We’ve been through a couple formations,” Loker explains. “Initially we were just bass and drums and then we added Ross on guitar…then we switched up the lineup and Ross moved to drums and Nate really expanded his sound with the dual amp situation.”

Their name is indeed a wrestling reference too. Loker shares, “A Japanese wrestling company called Dragon Gate have these guys called the Florida Brothers and they’re curtain jerkers – they’re usually in dark matches that don’t get televised much but get recorded. They do the southern Memphis style of wrestling and make jokes about it and they make it sloppy and weird and fun. People get kind of confused by it…and that’s what we go for (laughs).”

The band released their sophomore EP “Pick Your Sting” last summer. On what went into it, Loker recalls, “We recorded it with Shane at Howl Street. The name and cover art is a play on the Poison Idea record “Pick Your King.” – shout out to Dan Agacki for coming up with it. When I’m coming up with lyrics, I try not to think too much…usually I come up with them while I’m walking or running.”

Florida Brothers Band are working on new songs for their next LP. They play The Void in Racine on April 8th and Green Bay’s UFO Fest in July.