Our fat-free, dolphin-safe Milwaukee events calendar is chock-full of things to do, but only a handful of events are worthy of the lofty honor of “Record Recommended” (patent pending). Here are our recommendations for the week of February 4-10, 2019.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
WMSE Local/Live: Dick Satan Trio @ Club Garibaldi
Milwaukee Record‘s own Matt Wild will co-host this installment of WMSE’s Local/Live (along with frequent Milwaukee Record contributor Cal Roach). Come out, enjoy a free show, and prep for the upcoming Rockabilly Chili with Rockabilly Chili 2019 house band the Dick Satan Trio.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Telethon + Dollar Signs, Devon Kay And The Solutions @ Walker’s Point Music Hall
Telethon came out of nowhere in 2017 with the all-around excellent The Grand Spontanean: A Tale Told In Five Acts. Though the 30-track, 90-minute concept album had more than enough material to allow the self-described “hard pop” outfit to sit back and relax for a while, Telethon wasted no time before releasing a follow-up EP, Modern Abrasive. In the title track video, Telethon bounce around Bay View and unearth instruments in a number of unexpected and entertaining ways. Once they collect the appropriate equipment, they return to their basement to perform. Along the way, the boys jump into Lake Michigan, do a dance routine in an alleyway, and do their best Brady Bunch impersonation.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Writers Round: Chris Porterfield + Caley Conway, Ryan Necci, Old Earth @ Linneman’s Riverwest Inn
Some of Milwaukee’s best singer-songwriters kick off this new program in which, well, singer-songwriters take turns playing solo. Be there.
Mozes And The Firstborn + The Parrots, Surgeons In Heat @ Cactus Club
Shle Berry + Yogie B & Keez @ Tonic Tavern
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Interpol + Sunflower Beam @ Pabst Theater
Interpol rules. Interpol just put out a new record that rules. Interpol rarely comes to Milwaukee. Interpol is playing the Pabst Theater tonight. That rules.
Soup Moat + Eephus, Devils Teeth, The Smokes, Future Plans @ High Dive
The penultimate track of Soup Moat’s Harvester Of Likes is called “Porn In The Woods.” A tribute to the small-town, pre-internet phenomenon of finding a stash of weathered Playboys under a railroad bridge or in a hollowed-out tree or whatever, it’s a song that perfectly sums up the band behind it. It isn’t the only seedy, sludgy, and mischievous moment of the record: Opener “Riff River” is a pummeling, hiccuping engine-starter that eventually gives way to a full-throttled booze cruise; “Combo Throne” gets high and trips balls; “Pocket Full Of Ginger” cracks open some chakras; and “Todd” screams about a dude named, well, Todd. Turn it up, get weird, and smash that “like” button, indeed.
Animals In Human Attire + Nickel&Rose, Lifetime Achievement Award @ Company Brewing
On their 2014 full-length album, Ourmegadawn, Milwaukee’s Animals In Human Attire deliver a willfully untidy collection of folk, bluegrass, Americana, psych-rock, and anything else that happens to be lying around. Jack Tell assumes frontman duties for the group, though it’s easy to hear the influence of another Jack—White, that is—on opener “Ant Farm,” a rollicking start-and-stop roller coaster that plays like White Blood Cells-era White Stripes for the kitchen-sink folk set.
Naked Giants + TWEN, Platinum Boys @ The Back Room @ Colectivo
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9
Lauryl Sulfate And Her Ladies Of Leisure (record release) + Tigernite, LUXI @ Company Brewing
Can dance music save lives? Find out tonight, when the excellent Lauryl Sulfate And Her Ladies Of Leisure (LOL) celebrate the release of their latest record, Dance Music Saves Lives. And if that’s not enough, the mighty Tigernite and the hypnotic LUXI will be there, too. Don’t miss this one.
SIN BAD + Bad Wig (split record release) + Large Print, Rio Turbo @ Cactus Club
Yes, it’s a “SIN BAD WIG” split record release, with SIN BAD and Bad Wig each taking one side of a 12-inch vinyl record. And yes, this will be one of SIN BAD’s “last shows for the foreseeable future.” Be there.
Eagle Trace + The Mike Benign Compulsion @ Anodyne Walker’s Point Roastery
Siblings playing together in a band isn’t an altogether unique concept in Milwaukee music. Past acts like Juniper Tar, Ugly Brothers, and Calamity Janes (among many others) have shown that great things can come of familial collaboration. Still, Milwaukee rock quintet Eagle Trace is probably the only act in town right now with four brothers among its ranks. The group’s six-song EP The Restless Sea was released in 2016.