Unless you caught some of the band’s sparing shows in 2011 or 2012, you haven’t heard dick from mathy Milwaukee alt-rockers At Latl since 2010’s Safe, Sound And Temporary. That came out four and a half years ago, for those scoring at home. Just when the band was about to qualify for clutch “Remember when…” Milwaukee music status (By the way, who remembers El Oso?), At Latl went and pulled a Lazarus by releasing five-song EP Best Friends with little notice Tuesday.
Though it’s a 2015 release, At Latl laid down Best Friends at the lower east side home of friend, engineer, and adopted guitarist Justin Heron in the autumn of 2013. When singer/guitarist Kent Watson moved, the analog tracks remained shelved until he moved back last year. Though under 19 minutes long, Best Friends packs a lot into a small package. “Once You Move” is a fun musical mid-life crisis with big band backing. Yet “45” steals the short-order resurrection with vocals that seem to channel Karate’s Unsolved before yielding to a crescendo of cymbal work and background howls.
“45,” by At Latl – Official Music Video from Kent Watson on Vimeo.
No release show is planned because, if you can believe it, bassist Daniel Mahony moved to Kentucky two weeks after Watson returned to Milwaukee. At this pace, we’ll hear the next Atl Latl release in 2020, and we’ll still be happy it came.