AUDIO: Contraptions – “Buster Supreme EP”
Milwaukee’s Contraptions are back, and if you’ve been waiting for a record that sounds like it was assembled in a garage by people who actually know what they’re doing, the new Buster Supreme EP is calling your name.
The follow-up to the band’s sprawling 2017 LP Phenomenon, Buster Supreme finds Contraptions trimming the fat and tightening the bolts. Where past releases leaned into shaggy, exploratory rock energy — think White Cheddar Jesus and Hamburger Train territory — this EP feels leaner and more focused. It’s still rock music made by people who clearly love hooks, fuzz, and a sturdy rhythm section, but the songwriting hits harder when it’s compressed into EP form.
There’s a scrappy charm to everything Contraptions does, and Buster Supreme leans into it. The riffs land somewhere between dive-bar swagger and basement-show urgency, the kind of guitar work that rewards repeat listens once you’ve cracked open a second beverage. Vocals sit right in the pocket — conversational, occasionally sneering, never overdone.
For a city with a rock scene as deep as Milwaukee’s, it takes something a little extra to stand out, and Contraptions continue to carve out their own corner of it. Buster Supreme isn’t trying to reinvent the genre — it’s just a really solid rock record made by a band that knows exactly what kind of band they want to be.
Stream the Buster Supreme EP in full below, then pass it along to the friend who still believes guitar music is alive and well. (Spoiler: it is.)