Milwaukee’s Oogwé swing for the fences and spin together six tracks of blissful noise on their debut EP Staggering Beauty, melding the intricate rhythms of math rock to anguished textures of emo and post-hardcore. There’s an innate sense of movement to each song here, with the group never finding themselves solely comfortable in one groove or shuffle – an Oogwé song meddles with form and structure, but their experimentation never feels unearned. Staggering Beauty is largely instrumental, but that’s not a mark against it – the group’s three members play off of and against each other with such ease that it feels like a language in itself. When vocals do peek out of the mix, they’re often screamed with the intent to be heard and felt.
The group is celebrating the EP with a release show at DIY venue Down on Downer on Saturday, April 26 – they’ll be sharing the stage with Bronco, Pushing Indigo and Bad Roommate for the venue’s one year anniversary.