Linky McLinkster: The Week, The Weekend and WMSE POSTED:: January 10, 2014
FILED UNDER::
General
FILED UNDER:: General
words by Cal Roach
Hey Milwaukee, we’re back! We missed you, too, but a little break was necessary. Hope you all had a great holiday season and a happy new year! Time to get back to what we do best: give you the lowdown on what’s going on in town in the coming days. Read on for some suggestions for the weekend…
It’s been a while (like nearly four years) since we’ve had any new recorded music from Milwaukee’s Worrier; their 2010 debut Source Errors Spells was a terrific collection of eclectic, mathy rock sounds that sort of foreshadowed the current kitchen-sink pop aesthetic that’s burning up the local scene, and the band has certainly built on that release with its increasingly potent live show. But tonight (Friday) at Cactus Club the band will finally unleash some new recorded tunes (in cassette form), so yeah, it’s a party! Purveyors of aforementioned pop musics, Soul Low will play as well; their much-loved 2013 debut is up on Bandcamp and you must hear it immediately if you haven’t already. Also performing: local remix masters Kiings, and the debut performance by Piles.
Also tonight, at Turner Hall Ballroom, you could celebrate the release of another local release: the long-awaited new album from WMSE’s own Paul Cebar and his band Tomorrow Sound, Fine Rude Thing. If the weather has gotten you down, Cebar will transport to a much warmer place, not only via his wardrobe (wink wink, nudge nudge!) but also a variety of world music sounds combined into his own unique jazzy-bluesy songwriting style. This promises to be a booty-shakin’ good time, folks; you’ll get the bonus treat of seeing local rock mainstays The Delta Routine as well, so don’t be late!
Saturday night, get your butts back to Cactus Club for another round of autoharped post-punk-pop mayhem with Body Futures, who are currently hard at work on their debut album but you can get a sneak preview of their sound at Bandcamp. They’ll be joined by Madison’s Droids Attack, who shove a bunch of metal and punk sounds together into a heavy proggy stew, and Milwaukee’s Tigernite, a packet full of dance-rock energy. This is a lineup that will keep your body moving in a variety of different motions; bring multiple pairs of shoes!
Otherwise, if you wanna kick it in Riverwest, there’ll be some crazy rock and roll going on at the Public House on Saturday as well. Did you happen to catch The Directionals on Local/Live a few weeks ago? If so, you know to expect catchy, high-energy music that’s also somewhat dark and riddled with serpentine guitar melodies. If you missed out, definitely head here to check out some tunes; the band’s been releasing tracks at a pretty fast clip, and there’s a new full-length due out soon as well, so they’ve definitely got a sizable repertoire to pull from for this show. Also playing: The Gazettiers, Jet W. Lee, The Holy Alimonies. Tune into WMSE at 4pm on Saturday afternoon to listen to WMSE DJ Tim Noble chat with Holy Alimonies in advance of the show.
Also on Saturday night: Chicago’s Robbie Fulks has been playing his own brand of stripped-down country music for more than 25 years now, and he brings his show to Shank Hall this weekend for a WMSE-sponsored show. A lot of people like to slap the “alt” tag on him, but his music is really just traditional, twangy country, with all the heartache and humor (seriously, how about a cover of Cher’s “Believe,” complete with simulated auto-tune?) you might expect. Sure, there’s the occasional jazz intrusion and other bits of experimentation, but mainly he’s just a really good singer, and the distinctive voice and quirky songwriting are have kept him at the top of the business all this time. He’s touring in support of his new Gone Away Backward album, which landed him plenty of praise at the end of last year.