Believe it or not, 2024 is more than halfway over. Weird! What’s not weird: the fantastic Milwaukee music scene! Here are just a few of our favorite 2024 Milwaukee releases—records, songs, videos—so far.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE RECORDS/EPs OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Veteran Milwaukee MC Adebisi Agoro has been releasing music under his BLAX moniker for nearly a decade. The new WEMBENYAMA may only be four tracks long, but it packs a multifaceted punch. Opener “Dreamweaver” is nimble and lyrically assured, with BLAX skipping like a stone across a minimalistic sample bed. “Right A Song” is a hazy and somber meditation on life, love, loss, and art. Closer “The Sun!” meanwhile, scores big with a jazzy backing track. “I am intelligently speaking / Empire never peaking / I shine bright like a beacon,” BLAX proclaims on the title track. As always, he speaks the truth.
Amy Come On Home may be Ladybird’s first full-length record (two EPs preceded it in 2021 and 2023), but it has all the hallmarks of an accomplished sophomore album. Opener “Audrey’s Garden” is a sepia-toned country tear jerker, “Kemp Lane” is a smoldering rocker, and “Short King Shuffle” is a hilarious barn burner. All throughout, Pete McDermott and company shine both musically and lyrically. Ladybird has been having a BIG 2024—Amy Come On Home was celebrated with not one, but two sold-out shows at the Cactus Club—and the band seems destined for continued greatness.
There’s a lot to love on Yolk, Scam Likely’s follow-up to 2023’s Getting Worse. Opener “Hips” is the group at its most ’90s alt-rock, with singer/guitarist Charlee Grider howling one second and sneering and screaming the next. “Gutterball” is a manic doom-and-gloom concoction that retains some of the grit left over from Getting Worse. Lead single “Winner,” meanwhile, is the perfect mix of chugging bass, glowering guitars, nervy drums, and terrific vocals. It stands alongside “Domestic Bliss” and “Jesus Christ, Stop Yelling I’m Right Here” as one of the group’s best songs.
Sleepy Gaucho – True Love Corridor
True Love Corridor is an embarrassment of retro riches that completes the transformation of Sleepy Gaucho mastermind Andy Goitia from acoustic psych-folk singer to full-on yacht rock captain. Opener “Strawberry Moon” is an alternately funky and blissed-out banger; “Best Drug,” “Sensible Woman,” and “Deep Blue” slow things down but turn up the heat with some star-wipe sexiness; instrumental “Fern Street” is a song in search of closing credits to a low-budget ’70s film; and the closing title track is an impossibly cool strut that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Cowboy Bebop montage.
A poet by day, Casey O’Brien previously made music with “all-girl, punk rock, holiday jam band” Cinnaminiatures. Stephen Strupp, meanwhile, spent years with stellar indie outfit Sat. Nite Duets, as well as the excellent Soda Road. Put them together and you get chilled-out indie-synth project Sure Thing, and its wonderfully droll and occasionally heartbreaking self-titled debut. Opener “Fading Little Suns” is a tale of former love set against a backdrop of a voting booth, a waiting room, and the Cactus Club. Lead single “PDA Now” contains some typically winning O’Brien lyrics: “I’m into PDA now / I’ll kiss your teeth in a crowd / And when our friends are around / They feel weird but I don’t know how to stop.” And if you’re looking for some toe-tapping existential dread, look no further than the delightful “Tamagotchi.”
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE RECORDS/EPs OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Barely Civil – I’d Say I’m Not Fine
Despite the album’s name—referencing a theme of emotional uneasiness that permeates the 10-track effort—Barely Civil sounds better than ever on this release. The area emo act capably manages to vacillate between delicate, downtempo offerings and cathartic crescendos with ease. Highlights like “Coasting, Mostly” and Milwaukee/Earth song of the year candidate “Better Now” keep the energy high before the album ultimately settles into a welcomed pattern of tempo and tonal shifts that brings listeners along for the ride. The group’s third LP doesn’t need to be consumed in its entirety, but this album that documents ups, downs, doubts, resolve, highs, and lows is a more enjoyable and rewarding journey when you take it all in at once.
Garden Home is now a band in full bloom, as its long-awaited debut album shows the encouraging seeds scattered on its 2021 EP and during its steady diet of live shows have taken root and grown into something substantial. Before the eight-song, approximately 24-minute effort is through, the screamo outfit bestows blistering guitar work (perhaps best expressed on “Imposter”), muddy bass (“Not Today”), crushing percussion, and brash vocals upon listeners en route to cementing its now-justified status as one of the city’s most exciting young bands with its distinct brand of punishing, tempo-shifting, and altogether emotional material.
Immortal Girlfriend – Sojourner
In the four years since Immortal Girlfriend released its RIDE EP, the “Dark Knights of Synth” (a.k.a. siblings William and Kevin Bush) put out some standalone singles with ambitious accompanying music videos, started their own solo endeavors (MATTHÚ and Black Challenger), and had song placements on a handful of TV shows. All the while, the Bush brothers were also quietly creating material for another Immortal Girlfriend EP, which they dropped without warning back in February. The seven-song Sojourner continues the trend of exceptional otherworldly output by one of the city’s best all-around acts. From start to finish, listeners are invited to spend time traversing the lush landscapes and expansive environments Immortal Girlfriend carefully crafted through their technical proficiency, lyrical skills, and an uncanny ability to breathe human life into largely synthetic source material. If you’re not already doing so, you should listen to “Calling” immediately.
On Everything Is, Known Moons bandleader and founding member Andrew James—who had eschewed the spotlight in prior projects like Paper Holland and Flat Teeth—instantly earns attention with catchy vocals and agile instrumentation in opener “A Coffin For The Cosmos,” which sets a trend that continues for the duration of the young project’s five-song debut EP. James is joined on the release by an admirable cast of collaborators consisting of multi-instrumentalist/M.A.G.S. mastermind Elliott Douglas and Silver City Studios co-owner/lauded local musician Josh Evert. Between the trio’s next-level musicianship, James’ undeniable vocal and guitar chops, and the production flourishes that shimmer throughout (but especially on soaring standout single “By The Billions”), it’s hard to envision a more stunning introduction to this up-and-coming Milwaukee project.
Shorelining is the new project of Jesse Harmon, a current member of “horror psych” band Zang! and the former guitarist/vocalist of great post-punk project Piles. When Piles quietly called it quits last year, Harmon says he “was bored” and wanted to learn how to record his own material. Though technically a recording vehicle above all else, Shorelining’s self-titled EP is downright dazzling. Harmon’s hushed and delicate vocals on light and breezy tracks like “Reason” and “Forever” are almost indistinguishable from the dark and dour presence he brought to much of Piles’ material. Over the span of about 20 minutes, the shimmering, indie-leaning EP manages to permeate warmth, possibility, and sun-soaked emotion that can transport listeners to the shores of Lake Michigan on a pristine summer day. If the Shorelining EP was a means of testing his recording abilities, Harmon passed with flying colors.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Dogs In Ecstasy – “Podcasting”
Ellie Jackson – “Dinner With A Friend”
The Hatchets – “Gimme One More Chance”
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Diamond Life – “I Can’t Believe It!”
Hot Science – “Get Gems Or Die Tryin’“
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
J.P. + 414BigFrank – “Locked In”
Ladybird – “Short King Shuffle”
Vanity Plates – “Posthumous Fame”
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Allison Mahal – “18 Moving South”
Something To Do – “Sweet Caffeination”
MATT’S FAVORITE LOCAL/LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM AN OLD-SCHOOL MILWAUKEE HIP-HOP DUO (SO FAR)
WMSE’s Local/Live, June 11, 2024: Def Harmonic
I occasionally co-host WMSE’s weekly Local/Live, where local artists drop by the WMSE studio (or sometimes the stage at Anodyne on Bruce) and, well, play live. And of the Local/Lives I’ve co-hosted in 2024 (so far), none has made me happier than the one featuring legendary Milwaukee hip-hop duo Def Harmonic. Hearing JTodd and Lunaversol9 perform their ’00s-era hits and deep cuts live in the studio was a thrill, and talking to them between songs was equally exciting. Def Harmonic felt so impossibly cool to me back in the day; listen to the recent WMSE set and you’ll realize that coolness continues in 2024.
TYLER’S FAVORITE RELEASE HE’S WRITING ABOUT HERE AS A LOOPHOLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE SIX FAVORITE ALBUM/EP PICKS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Sorry for bending the rules, but it just didn’t feel right to keep the self-titled debut from EXITSTATEMENTS—a new band with members of such notable Milwaukee acts as Northless, Soup Moat, and Emissary in its ranks—off this list. The seven-song effort takes an experimental, collaborative, flexible, and altogether abstract approach while also managing to capably weave components of post-hardcore, punk, and even jazz into its self-described “experimental rock” framework. EXITSTATEMENTS, somewhat ironically for a band with a name that evokes one’s last words, makes one hell of a first impression with this album.
MATT’S FAVORITE SONG HE’S INCLUDING HERE AS A LOOPHOLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE FOUR FAVORITE SONG PICKS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Ack! It’s so hard to choose just one more favorite song! I could have gone with J.P.’s big spring/summer hit “Bad Bitty,” Maximiano’s gorgeous “Simple,” or Old Pup’s impressionistic “Spider Towns.” But I gotta go with “Runnin’,” the final track on what I assume will be SIN BAD’s final album. What can I say? I love, love, love this song and I’ve listened to it approximately 8,000 times this year (so far).
TYLER’S FAVORITE SONG HE’S INCLUDING HERE AS A LOOPHOLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE FOUR FAVORITE SONG PICKS OF 2024 (SO FAR)
Ellee Grim – “I Think I’m Afraid Of You”
This time, “I Think I’m Afraid Of You”—the chaotic and compelling first solo single from ex-Honey Creek member Ellee Grim—benefits from this previously unheard of bonus entry loophole being employed this year. It should be noted that you, Milwaukee Record reader, also benefit from this song’s inclusion because you’re now just one click from being able to hear one of the best Milwaukee-made songs of 2024’s first half. Enjoy!
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