World in Action are a new Milwaukee punk band who just released their self-titled debut EP. Describing themselves as “anarcho-inspired peace punk”, the group right off the bat aren’t afraid to make their distaste for today’s increasingly bleak sociopolitical climate known. Through exciting buildups and a vigorous dynamic, these three tracks confront the evils and hypocrisies of capitalism and class
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Pop/R&B artist *Aya has a new single out this week and it’s about thriving in your own space and being safe in solitude. They sing about being most happy while they’re at home entertaining their thoughts and learning to be less hard on themself. With an empowering groove and feathery yet firm vocals, “Apartment” finds *Aya protecting their peace and
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Indie rockers Vacancy Chain dropped a new single ahead of their upcoming album “Count the Stars.” This tune is out just in time to be added to your summer rotation as it’s got a breezy and buoyant atmosphere. The song seems to touch on living in the moment with someone, even though you know that the moment won’t last. Stay
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Emo/post-hardcore band Snag released a new single last week – their first since 2021 album “Death Doula.” The song protests Cop City, which is the proposed clearing of forests outside of Atlanta in order to build a police training facility. With the band’s shrieked anxieties about the horrors of environmental destruction and state repression combined with their prog-adjacent screamo sensibilities,
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Hardcore punks Holy Shit! have released a new album out on Vinyl Smash Records (US) and Snuffy Smiles Records (Japan). The longtime band and lovable friends deliver eight songs that come at breakneck speed with songs fueled by drunken antics, rowdy humor and uproarious catharsis. With blazing riffs that stop and go, vocals that scream in your face and drums
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Grindcore band Milorganaut have returned with a new album out on Diseased Audio after a long hiatus. The boys are indeed back in town with ten tracks of destructive riffage, infernal tempos, vicious vocals and earsplitting distortion that adds up to some of the heaviest music we’ve heard from Milwaukee so far this year. Named after the city’s industrial-heavy peninsula
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Indie pop artist 9 A.M. released their first single of 2023 into the world on Friday. The tune gets us excited with a sparkling guitar riff, then 9 A.M. comes in with passionate, soaring vocals that carry the tale of feeling way too much at once as much as possible. The melody is certainly playful and appealing, yet the themes
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JT and the Congregants knock out two parts in one with their latest single. “Good Hope Road” has the Americana twang of hometown love and countryside memories, yearning for a sense of comfort in the face of middle-aged blues. They trade vocals and shift tempo around the four-minute mark, hence entering “part two.” It’s a story that stands the test
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Longtime power pop act Certain Stars released a two-song single recently. The first track is a catchy one written with down-on-your-luck humor about looking good but playing like shit. The second track, however, really gets the party going with a playful, upbeat riff and shoutable hook about being thrilled to see someone. “Bass Guitar” and “I Get So Excited” are
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Experimental duo Smooth Cactus released a new album. Covering substantial ground with 21 tracks, the album consists of mostly short compositions typically between one and two minutes long, favoring liquid textures and minimalist production styles that together encourage a tranquil state of being. With elements of chillwave, lo-fi hip hop, ambient electronica and jazz blended into a unique palette, Smooth
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Day 3 of Milwaukee Psych Fest at The Cooperage kicked off with a noon performance from A. James Shelp and the Rolling Hills.
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Past is Prologue renew their signature blend of pop punk, metal and post-hardcore with their latest single and music video. Directed by Xavier Schaetzke, the visual finds the band donning astronaut uniforms as they deliver a powerful performance against rapidly-firing colors, then each of them takes turns entering a strange doorway. With numerous stylistic moving parts that the band executes
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Experimental act Whaler released a new two-song EP out on Triple Eye Industries. The first track, “Lumpy’s Revenge”, incorporates droning guitar soundscapes against a bed of bright synths while the second track “Torture Roid” conjures a suspenseful, unsettling atmosphere with repetitive grunting sounds and industrial-adjacent textures. It’s the first we’ve heard from Whaler in some time, but “EP-SUX3” is a
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Banana Clip are a supergroup project consisting of Nathaniel Heuer, Marielle Allschwang, Adam Krause, Todd Umhoefer and a fifth anonymous member who just released a new EP out on Triple Eye Industries. Incorporating a sonorous noise rock style on the A side and hardcore punk on the two-song B side, the three-song EP is themed around corrupt American institutions like
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Veteran noise artist Peter J. Woods released a new album out on Skinwalker Recordings. It consists of two tracks, one being almost 14 minutes and the other being over 25 minutes. “The Display” consists of prolonged static harshness that eventually transitions into obfuscated, garbled vocal samples. The title track…is absolutely golden…it samples and loops Tina Fey talking on TV while
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Heavy metal band H1Z1 dropped their first new track since 2017 last week. The song focuses on growing up on the north side of Milwaukee and struggling with the cruel realities of poverty, racism and segregation. With a speeding groove, roaring ferocity and uncompromising lyrical prowess from vocalist Marq Pointer, H1Z1 channel warranted antagonism against the powers that be with
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Hardcore fans gather – Infamy dropped their long-awaited debut EP this week! Over five tracks, the powerhouse band brings absolute sonic mayhem with diabolical riffage, blistering blast beats and growling vocals that command endless moshes. Tormented lyric themes of succumbing to demons, living a nightmare, the sharp pain of broken trust and struggling against individualism paint gruesome pictures of harrowing
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Psych-indie rock project Limber Brain released a new album last week. The ten-song body of work explores coming-of-age themes such as entering new chapters (“Open A New Door”), growing apart from people (“Twyla (the Light of my Life)”), seeking love from someone (“I’m the One Who Wants You”) and the innocence of uncertainty (“What’s Wrong with Being Wrong (If You
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Gothic rockers Creepy Little Things dropped a new single recently. The band bring their shadowy, wicked demeanor with a jam about destroying everything you touch and not deserving good things in life. Frontman Scotty Damned warns that he’ll take you down with him if you try to save him, owing it to insidious emptiness and immortalized pain. Creepy Little Things
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Singer-songwriter Kyle Feerick released a single recently – his first new music in five years! With funky, soulful touches, the song is a blast of lively summer energy. Feerick sings about someone who has a warm, sweet infectiousness to them and he wants as much of them as possible. It’s the first taste of a new album Kyle Feerick is
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Singer-songwriter John Justus, known for his project Hallowtribe, released his debut single not too long ago on all streaming platforms. With love in his voice and generosity in his lyrics, Justus tells us to be a little nicer to ourselves with “Believe in You.” Accompanied by a gentle acoustic melody he affirms that we are worthy of good things in
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Mulva are a new indie punk project that just released their debut EP. It’s just three tracks, but that gives the duo plenty of time to channel plenty of apocalyptic feelings and nonstop dread. Confronting toxic cycles and being caught in stagnancy, Mulva are sick of the same shit over and over, and there’s no better way to put melodies
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Power pop/indie rockers The Pulltops dropped their second new single of the year. This one confronts making mistakes but learning to move on from them. As such, the song’s melody is a slow burner with a confessional tone, tackling the difficulty of making amends and reckoning with the past. Unleashing a climactic chorus that hollers for closure, The Pulltops channel
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Psych-pop singer-songwriter Dak DuBois released his debut album this past week. Recorded entirely in his Riverwest apartment, DuBois’ self-titled record is eight songs that share anecdotes of a person dealing with trauma, confusion and despair within a society in the midst of massive changes. The psychedelic flavors of DuBois’ melancholy, guitar-driven melodies and radiant vocals reflect the displaced, fuzzy psyche
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Indie rock bands Doubter and North Warren teamed up for a split EP that was released on Friday. With two songs each, the effort is the first we’ve heard from both buzzing acts since August. North Warren kick things off with the atmospheric howl of “Free Entertainment”, followed by the surf-friendly punch of “In Circles”; the band are louder and
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