From the ashes of one of Milwaukee’s most vehemently loud and sonically crushing post-rock bands, Freight, a ‘Freight-less existence’ (as Fan-belt writer, Brian Whitney described it upon Freight’s disbandment), really wasn’t anything that the Milwaukee music environment was going to have to work on filling. The empty space was quickly appended with a new project of former Freight vocalist Brian Rogers: his just as hard-hitting current project is tongue in cheek-edly called ‘White Problems‘.
Debuting at the Borg Ward almost a month ago, White Problems come back with a vengeance to hit up the Milwaukee rock scene with another wallop of noise tonight at the Cactus Club. Fan-belt gets the Cliffs Notes version on what former Freight fans can expect from their new, favorite scapegoats.
This was it: the final performance by a band that I have loudly and repeatedly claimed to be the best in Milwaukee. I’d get into my feelings on a Freight-less existence but it would probably take several thousand words and it would still seem too short. Regardless, this was Freight’s last show and they were to go out with a bang. (more…)
The Hussy + Crappy Dracula, The Points!, Zygoteens
Madison’s The Hussy have been getting a lot of well-deserved attention for their take on the guitar/drummer combo, but they amp up the snotty vocals to gives their music a more Be Your Own Pet angle than White Stripes.
Photo of the Bryan Cherry Band by Jessica Perrault
Friday, March 6
The Bryan Cherry Band + On the Porch, Chris Otepka (Heligoats), Jeannie Mayotte @ Point East (1501 N. Jackson), 10 p.m.
The Bryan Cherry Band’s latest release, Alley Apple is a perfect testament to their funk prowess: smooth soul vocals from Cherry are surrounded by alternately gritty/fluid guitars and percussion from his band mates. Check out Fan-belt’s earlier coverage of the band, *here*.
Photo of Freight courtesy of MySpace
Saturday, March 7
Big Fun 4Ever (record release) + Terrior Bute (CD release), Freight (last show), the Emptyheads @ Cactus Club (2496 S. Wentworth), 10 p.m.
Freight, Milwaukee’s all-out rock, audio-assault is calling it quits: the best ones always do, way too early. Join the Young Widows proteges for a night of furious guitars, mechanically-precise drum crashes and plenty of slightly deadpan and yell-y vocals. Burn off your energy after the rock show with a dance-party provided by Terrior Bute and Big Fun 4Ever: Milwaukee’s Vicious Pop Records poster kids.
Nobunny + The Yolks, the Gut Reactions, Rocktopus, the Get Drunk DJs @ Mad Planet (533 E. Center), 9 p.m.
He’s a man. He’s a bunny. Nobunny is nothing easy to describe, churning out karaoke-style garage rock muffle-shouted out of a bunny head. Nobunny’s album Love Visions has been sweeping the nation and beyond, as his ‘nobunny loves you!’ idealism continues to sweep coast to coast. See for yourself in the above video: even babies love Nobunny.
Any Milwaukee music lover should circle Saturday, March 7th on their calendar with the darkest, most permanent marker possible. Two heavyweight shows that celebrate Milwaukee’s past, present, and future will be going down, and they’re graduated enough time-wise that you might be able to hit up both. (more…)
Freight and Possible Fathers are two of Milwaukee’s best bands right now, each with their own take on aggressive indie rock that has been missing from both Milwaukee’s landscape and the scene-at-large for too long. Possible Fathers opened the show, with a set mixed with songs from their Doing The Dad Thing EP (available for free download on their MySpace) and their forthcoming split cassette with Pigs On Ice. Musically, the band floats somewhere between the garage-y grunge of Mudhoney and the precise punk of Hot Snakes, with the heavily reverbed vocals of singers Willy Dintenfass and Tony Dixon occasionally peeking through. The band probably played about 20 songs in 15 minutes, barely giving the crowd a chance to process the last song before launching into the next. The only breaks came when Dintenfass and Dixon traded off guitar and bass duties. This was my first time seeing the band in a non-basement venue and, I must say … (more…)
Bob Kelly and Kelly Pomeroy's song cycle will travel to New York after its Milwaukee premiere this week, to be performed at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theater.
